A Return Ticket To Konoha
by Y2000K
Summary: Kamen Sakamoto and Naruto Uzumaki were two sides of the same coin, however one was drenched in the blood of his long dead comrades and the other had all that yet to come. Perhaps it was irony then, that they were to cross paths not long after Kamen was thrown unwillingly back into the past by all nine of the tailed beasts. Will the war veteran thrive or languish? AU/Time Travel
1. Chapter 1- Prologue

**Chapter 1- Prologue**

* * *

"La seule raison d'être d'un être, c'est d'être,

c'est-à-dire de maintenir sa structure."

\- HENRI LABORIT, _Éloge de la fuite_

Translation:

"A being's only reason for being is being,

that is to say, to maintain its structure."

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki was in the past, though not even a trace of his former cheery self seemed to remain. The fourth great ninja war had broken his heart and fractured his mind, though none could blame the now twenty six year old man for it.

The war had ironically lasted nine years, not what you would usually expect from a war between shinobi, but it was what you got when there was one side with an almost unlimited amount of replenishable soldiers and the other side with their best fighters doing their best not to get captured or killed. The death toll was immense, nine years of guerrilla warfare, hit and run, do or die, it almost annihilated the entirety of the human race. But at the time, Naruto couldn't have cared less about the cannon fodder who had perished, his heart had turned to steel long before the large number of casualties had begun to stack up. However there were some for who he cared deeply, who he couldn't bare to see perish and especially not in the ways that he had witnessed. Each death was like a coating of acid being poured over his heart.

Despite all this, despite Madara's best efforts with his army of reanimated corpses, white Zetsus and the Juubi, the ninja world had miraculously prevailed. The price they paid, however, outweighed heavily what they got in return. As the survivors of the war that had raged across all of the elemental nations, waded their way through mud, corpses and thick smoke to return to their homes only to be greeted with even more broken shells, destroyed infrastructure and a lingering sense of emptiness.

Pulling himself out of the pit of despair and loneliness was a difficult task for Naruto, an even greater one than killing Madara or subduing the Juubi, at least that had been what it seemed like at the time. Luckily he had not been alone in his solitude, Garaa had survived, though like his blonde friend the war had forever changed him. The red head was neither the crazed killer he was as a child, yet neither was he the cool leader he had become as a Kage. Instead, a cold, traumatized shadow of a man was left, but with what was left of his humanity he gave the just as broken Naruto a guiding light. Even if he barely managed to spark the once unpredictable shinobi's dream of becoming Hokage back to life. It was with a tearful farewell that both veteran soldiers, as that was all that they could be, promised to restore their countries to their former glory and one day meet again on equal footing, not only as allies, but as Kage.

A week trickled between Naruto's fingers like fine grains of sand, the rebuilding process was well underway, however without any of the skilled civilian artisans, all of which had perished long ago, the task was put in the hands of the highly adaptable shinobi. The young blonde war hero had become the de facto leader of the Konoha Shinobi remnants, weighing in at a whopping great total of one hundred and seventy five men and women, which may not have seemed like much until you compared it to the measly fifty remaining mist shinobi. The village with the largest remain force had been the hidden cloud, though even then they barely had three hundred survivors.

It was at a time when Naruto had begun to think that everything might just work out, that if everyone pushed forwards, intent on building a better future together, even with the small amount of survivors, someday the elemental nations might one day flourish again. It was then, when he had been at what felt like the peak of his emotional state, that a weathered old man, dressed in full black had forced him to come crashing back down. The black that the man wore had not been to conceal himself, but rather to mourn. As the words escaped his cracked lips, Naruto fell deeper into despair than he had ever been before, "The Kazekage... Is dead."

The redhead had known long before the shinigami had come to claim his soul that he was doomed. He had died once before, but he had been stolen away from the maws of eternal rest by Chiyo, the honored grandmother of Suna. Perhaps it was fated then, that it should be her reanimated corpse that dragged him back to the eternal darkness where he should have long since been. Without Shukaku inside of him and with both Tsunade and Chiyo herself resting six feet under, none were capable to treat the ex-jinchuriki, who had been exposed to enough of the honored grandmother's poison to fell the mighty Kyuubi itself. The few competent medics that remained had been astounded that he had even lasted a week, attesting that he must have survived on shear willpower alone.

Garaa had know, he had know that he was doomed to die sooner rather than later, even before he had made his pledge with Naruto. Why then? Why had he done such a cruel thing? Was it not enough to have the blonde suffer the death of every single person that he had cherished with his own eyes? Had Garaa been trying to help? If so what a twisted and cruel way to do so. Bile rose into his throat every time he thought of it.

It was not long after, surrounded by darkness and abandoned by all, that a faint warmth, a faint pulling at the back of his mind, brought him into his mindscape. What had once been a wet and cavernous sewer was now a large forest. Though this forest was not the kind that you wanted to find yourself in, the black trees cast long and dark shadows, within each resided a pair of bright red eyes observing his every move, explosion craters and the odd weapon stuck in the ground or a tree trunk also polluted the landscape. It was within a clearing of this forest that nine great figures loomed over the broken and fragile looking man. He couldn't even be called a shadow of his former self anymore. All nine tailed beasts had gathered. They had spoken, at length telling the young man what he needed to do, why he needed to do it and how they were going to help him do it along with everything in between. But all he had heard were their first words "You are going to save the world!" and their last "Goodbye."

In a mass of complex sealing arrays and forbidden jutsu, the broken shell with the label 'Naruto' barely hanging on was sent to the past. Save the world? Even if he was in the past, what could he do? He had seen the future, he had been a part of it. If he prevented that future from happening then he was also preventing himself from being sent back to stop that future from happening. A paradox, an infinite hellish loop. One which he wanted no part in propagating. Even if he had wanted to change the future, even if it mattered what he did. The tailed beasts had abandoned him, to prevent a 'chakra paradox', without them, without Kurama, what was he ? What power did he have over events? Shadow clones, rasengan, its variations and sage mode, did that even put him on par with Zabuza? He didn't have the mangekyou sharingan nor the byakugan nor any kind of kekkei genkai. He was useless.

Apparently, the real Naruto, the Naruto of this timeline, had just returned from that mission, the one where Zabuza and Haku had perished in such a wasteful series of events. He hadn't been keeping an eye on team seven during the short amount of time he had spent in the past until now, however he had found himself living next to his younger self's apartment. Which wasn't really such a coincidence at it first seemed as, with the little amount of money and fake residential visa he had 'acquired', there were only a select few places he could have rented. The one he was currently in being the cheapest.

But the war torn veteran's pockets were shallow and he could already hear the moths nesting in his battered and patched frog wallet. Soon enough fate and a desperate need for money would push him outward, perhaps into the light or further into the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2- A Shift In The Sands

**Chapter 2- A Shift In The Sands**

* * *

"My friend, I am not what I seem.

Seeming is but a garment I wear

-a care-woven garment that protects me from thy questionings

and thee from my negligence."

-KAHLIL GIBRAN,_ The Madman_

* * *

The sun's rays began to rise above Konoha, though many would take this as the beginning of the day, for most it had already started many hours before, with some having worked through the night to accomplish the tasks that their occupations demanded.

However among those industrious people who worked tirelessly for themselves and the greater good, there were some who could barely find the energy and motivation to get themselves out of bed. This may sound like the perfect description of a Nara, but you would be wrong in thinking that they are the only ones who have such problems. Though the Nara clan does have a rampant laziness problem, it is not laziness that ties a certain Naruto Uzumaki to his bed sheets.

The reluctant time traveller was lying upon his bed, only dressed in his boxers and covered in a thick layer of sweat, his skin having an unhealthily pale tint to it. A pained sigh echoed out of the young man's lips as he rose to a sitting position on his bed.

His midnight blue eyes scanned his bedroom, flicking from corner to corner, the action calming his slightly jittery nerves. The young man suddenly caught the slightest of movements out of the corner of his eye, without even a trace of hesitation the war veteran's arm flashed under his pillow case and just as quickly his arm tensed, throwing the contents of his hand into the wall with an audible 'thunk'.

The man's slightly crazed and panicked eyes focused in on the Kunnai which he had mercilessly tossed into the wall, its blade pinning a spider's corpse to it. Another sigh escaped from Naruto's lips as he place his face into both his hands. He stayed immobile for a minute or two before running one of his hands through his oily unkempt hair.

As he rose from his bed, walking towards the door, he passed by a rickety wardrobe and set of drawers. Upon the oak surface of the latter, a set of dark clothes rested, set out the day before. A black long sleeved cotton padded shirt and similarly padded grey cargo pants were neatly folded atop a pair of pristine steel capped boots. These kind of clothes had been hard to find, especially in Konoha, but Naruto had managed. It might have seemed peculiar that the war torn man wanted to wear clothes that were almost a carbon copy of his uniform from another timeline, but perhaps the familiar clothing brought him a sense of comfort.

The allied forces' uniform had been altered according to the situation, the archaic sandals had grown too unreliable and the dark green, red, blue and beige attires were all too bright, even at night.

Walking out of his bedroom into the living area, Naruto quickly assessed the room, checking the small dining table and two chairs along with the kitchenette and its cupboards for even the slightest difference from when he had gone to bed. During his nine years of fighting and being on the run, checking his surroundings for any disturbances after waking up to see if anyone or anything had been around him while he slept had become a habit, one he was reluctant to get rid of.

The rays of sun that were gently peaking through the blinds of the window behind the sink of the kitchenette were used to move around rather than the electric lights which hung above. Not that if the young ninja wouldn't be able to see even in pitch black darkness, that sort of ability had become a necessity when fleeing into the void was a nightly occurrence, however another habit that grew on survivors of the Fourth Great Ninja War was to conserve and conceal one's chakra at all times. They never knew when they might have to spend a large amount of it on a distraction or a large scale jutsu. Those who hadn't picked up this habit had been submerged in the hordes of White Zetsu when their chakra pools grew empty.

The time traveller silently made his way to the bathroom which was on the left side of the living-room, the front door of his apartment being right in front of him. If anyone was looking, they might have thought that the pale half nude man was a ghost as not even the dust in the air around him seemed to shift as he made his way towards the shower. The door to the washroom opened and closed without a sound, and then like an explosion in the eerily quiet apartment, the sound of running water crashing down onto Naruto's sweat covered figure.

The ex-jinchuriki stared down at the shower's drain as the water swirled down into it along with the sweat and grime that had built up during his nightmare filled sleep. His guilty conscience wouldn't let him simply forget the horrors of his other life, as every night he was racked with gruesome and constant imagery of his cherished people's deaths. Not that even without those he would forget, the scars on his body might have been numerous, but those in his mind were even more so.

When he was satisfied that his body was the bare minimum of clean, Naruto twisted the shower's faucet shut and stepped out onto the cold tile floor, swiftly grabbing a towel and using it to dry his damp body. Stepping towards the bathroom's sink, his deep blue eyes gazed into the mirror that was hung above it, a carbon copy of them staring back. Black scruffy hair hung offer his face, almost resembling the Fourth Hokage's haircut, if it could even be called a hair cut at all, though there was a distinct lack of bangs.

Naruto's hand reached up to his cheek, his calloused fingers running over the whisker-like facial hair that rested there. There must have been some of the nine tail's residual chakra within him, as no matter how many times he shaved his face, the six whiskers grew back each time.

Stepping away from the mirror, the war hero made his way to his clothes, satisfied that he was dry enough to put them on. He opened one of the compartments of his drawers and retrieved both a pair of black cotton boxers and a very thin long sleeved undershirt that reached up to the bridge of the wearer's nose. Being unable to shave his whiskers and having little to no talent in genjutsu, concealing them with a Kakashi-esque face mask had been his final and only resort.

Pulling his clothes on without even a rustle of fabric, the silent shinobi prepared himself for his outing. His monetary resources had almost run dry and soon enough he would be unable to pay even the meagre rent of his apartment. It may have been true that his being in the past was a fruitless endeavour, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to live with the bare minimum of comfort which seemed luxurious to him after his nine years of war.

As the man slowly made his way towards the front door, like in a nightmare it only seemed to get further away. He didn't want to go outside, didn't want to risk running into his past self or any of the younger versions of the people he had cared for. His heart was already fragile as it was, he wasn't sure what would happen if he saw team seven from an outwards perspective. Seeing them would just remind him of what he had lost and what was now unattainable, in the worst case scenario he may even end up trying to stop the Fourth Great Ninja War and start a never ending paradox. Tearing the universe apart was not on his agenda.

Despite the anxiety that he felt, on the outside he seemed completely composed, moving towards the door with the key already in his hand. He stretched his arm forwards, the key homing in on its lock. The sound of metal sliding into metal grated out into the quiet apartment followed by the clicking of the lock opening as Naruto twisted the key like a knife in an open wound.

He hadn't left the apartment for three days, the last time he had gone out had been to buy the bare minimum of food, if ration bars could even be called 'food'. Perhaps that was why he was blinded by the bright morning sun and was forced to stumble forwards onto the railing of the apartment complex's walkway. Perhaps the soft breeze in the air that displaced his messy black hair would have felt nice if the lower half of his face wasn't covered up.

If he did end up meeting Kakashi, explaining away the identical fashion sense would be rather simple, after all people who wanted to hide their identity existed all over the elemental nations.

Walking down the cement steps of his apartment and out into one of the busier commercial streets, Naruto gazed out at the hundreds of people that flocked past. Before arriving in Konoha it had been a long time since he had seen so many people in one place, without a care in the world. Civilians, genin, chunin and jonin all mingled together as they went about their daily tasks, them and the stream of shadows that most didn't even notice.

All the colour seemed so vivid, the sounds were extremely loud, bits and pieces of conversation entering into his mind, his own heart beating loudly in his ears. The smell of food wafting out from restaurants, of cigarettes and unspeakable odours wafting out of public restrooms. Naruto stood frozen, if he moved even an inch, the feeling of his own clothes rubbing against his skin hurt.

His senses were going haywire along with his chakra which he was desperately trying to suppress, this had happened on a few different occasions already, but for some reason it was ten times as bad right now. The war veteran guessed that it was likely to be due to the lack of bijuu inside of him, the sudden unbalancing of the delicate yin-yang equilibrium was playing havoc with his body. A small part of his brain tried to bring the words of his fuzzy friend and loyal comrade to the attention of the rest of it, the memories of Kurama and the other tailed beasts' words desperately trying to resurface only to be ruthlessly quashed. Naruto only saw these memories as the residual chakra of the Kyuubi, trying to trick his mind as it acted on pure malice and instinct.

This residual chakra should have posed no threat even with the great nine tails' malice driving it, why then did it feel as if his chakra pathways were full of molten lava? The honed shinobi's pondering and state of immobility were suddenly shattered by a voice that entered his mind, though this one was from the present.

"If you're so sick of being in my debt, why don't you get better than me ?"

That slightly nasally yet guttural voice that seemed to drive all the young kunoichi wild was so distinct, Naruto barely even had to think to know who it was. His midnight blue eyes flicked through the crowd, from face to face, effortlessly skipping over the ones he deemed unfit for his attention. Just as he begun to think he had imagined it, he caught sight of them, two young boys glaring at each other in the middle of the street, the large crowd of civilians seeming to instinctually move around them.

One was slightly shorter than the other, dressed in bright orange with dashes of blue here and there, his face seemed slightly scuffed up and the way he held himself betrayed the injury to his left leg despite his best efforts to hide it. Meanwhile the other child met the prior one's heated glare with his hands the pockets of his grey shorts and a cool, uncaring gaze, one you could imagine he also gave to an insect if it were to land on his arm.

A slight distance away from the two was also a young pink haired girl looking on at the scene with worry etching her face. She wore a red kimono-like dress with light blue spandex shorts which clashed terribly with the person who was stood not too far from her.

Towering above the trio was a silver haired man with only a single eye visible, his other hidden by the forehead protector that hung on his face at an awkward angle, the lower half of his face hidden just like his eye. His slouching posture, half lidded eye and his hands in his pockets did nothing to hide the aura of strength which seemed to surround the man, his cold black eye as sharp as a knife.

Seeing these four people, his past self, his dearest friends and his father figure was enough to make Naruto clutch at his chest, it felt as though his heart was going to burst. As his fuzzy vision stared at the group, their broken corpses overlapped with their current living forms. The mix of emotions swirling within the veteran was enough to drive him mad, he was even tempted to retrieve the kunnai hidden at his waist and stab it into his jugular, but that thought was hindered by a sudden tension that permeated the air.  
And this tension was not the one between the young jinchuriki and last loyal Uchiha. It took him a second, through the pain, to pinpoint its source, but when he found it he wished he hadn't. Apparently the fluctuating chakra within the ex-jinchuriki hadn't been missed by the elite jonin who stood barely a building's distance away.

Time seemed to slow to a halt as midnight blue clashed with coal black. He hated it, that cold, calculating and uncaring eye staring at him as if he were a complete stranger. Why couldn't it look at him with the same comforting warmth that it had always had?

That was a stupid question, and he knew it, he was no longer Naruto, not in this world. He was no longer the son of the fourth Hokage, Kakashi's beloved teacher. He was a complete stranger, an unknown and possibly dangerous element that could pose a threat to the silver haired jonin's students, why else would he be staring at them through a crowd of a hundred other people.

The tension was suddenly snapped by a high pitched screech coming from high in the sky, a messenger hawk flew in a specific pattern above, a yellow piece of cloth tied to one of its legs. The coded message was a summons to all jonin instructors with a genin team. There was something about this that seemed familiar, but the time traveller couldn't figure out what.

The feeling of a body flicker along with a slight puff of smoke were the only things which indicated the silver haired man's departure from the crowded street. His sudden exit drew the ex-jinchuriki's eyes back down from the skies and onto the trio which had now become a duo as Sasuke had left only a few seconds before his sensei.

" Oi! Little hint... No rock has perfectly square corners and eyeholes! Kind of a big giveaway!"

Naruto didn't want to observe his former self, he didn't want to see even more people especially because he knew that under that ridiculous rock was the Konohamaru corps. Konohamaru had been one of the few people precious to him that he hadn't witness die with his own eyes, but the alternative was just as bad... Even just remembering the way Moegi had seemed so lifeless as she recounted her best friend's death to him step by step was enough to make Naruto shiver.

Despite this, after regaining his composure, he leapt up onto the rooftops and concealed his presence with great care. Because he remembered what was going to happen, the square rock having been like an explosion that broke the dam, letting a flood of memories through. The chunin exams, Temari, Kankuro and... Garaa. Soon the group of kids beneath him would run into the sand siblings, both literally and figuratively.

A small part of him was doing this to keep an eye on them, see if he couldn't change a few things, like prodding the water with a toe to tell if it is cold or not. Another much larger part of him knew that his very existence was proof enough that the future was doomed and was only doing this to get a nostalgic glimpse at the young Garaa.

Three kids wearing goggles, two solid punches, a broken fence and maybe a few bones later...

"...Jeesh! That broad-browed, fire breathing hag ! Is she even a real girl ?!"

Konohamaru had never been good at using his inside voice... That had been part of the reason he had ended up dead... Shaking his head from side to side, Naruto tried to focus on something a little lighter in theme. Because even from his new hiding position, behind the fence of some alley and stood in someone's garden, the veteran could humorously imagine the face that Naruto's female team-mate was pulling at this very instant. Hadn't anyone ever told Konohamaru, 'Hell hath nor fury like a woman scorned'?

The hidden observer could hear and feel the sound of the group of four's footsteps, slamming clumsily against the ground as they darted off, trying to escape the fury of the pink haired demon. However before the chase could even properly begin it was cut short.

Konohamaru had bumped straight into someone in his mad dash away from Sakura and now had a pair of cold eyes staring down at his prone form. One pair were emerald green and the other light brown, but both held a hefty amount of contempt for the young academy student on the ground.

Both of them stood tall and proud, though only slightly taller than the other children in the alleyway. Temari, who of the two seemed like the calmest, looked to only be slightly older than the young Naruto. Her dirty blonde hair was tied back behind her head in a peculiar cross shape, which drew the eye almost as much as Kankuro's full black onesie-esque article of clothing. In comparison her one piece lightweight dress and full body fishnet that reached up to her neck, where her forehead protector hung, was positively ordinary.

Both of them had their main weapons strapped to their backs, in Temari's case it was her fan, for her brother it was his puppet. Perhaps it was tradition to have your weapon on your back in Suna, as Garaa, who was in a tree and hanging upside down from a branch just above the time traveller, also wore his gourd full of sand on his back.  
The red haired jinchuriki was completely unaware of the older man's presence, instead calmly gazing at the situation unfolding before him. Though dressed similarly to his brother, in red rather than black, it was unlikely to be due to a sense of kinship, knowing the current Garaa.

The veteran leapt onto a branch just above the young Jinchuriki, without displacing a leaf, just it time to spot something rather strange. Sasuke Uchiha leaping up into the tree, which was growing crowded, and taking his time to get into a relaxed position so as to seem as cool as possible. Naruto wasn't sure how Garaa could keep a straight face when seeing such a thing, as even he was having trouble and he was certain his younger self would explode with laughter if he saw such a sight.

It was rather amusing, seeing everything for a different and distant perspective. Everything that seemed so important at the time, everything that seemed so frustrating and cool, now only brought slight amusement to the young man.

It did make sense however, that Sasuke would put so much effort in to looking good around others. He didn't want his clan's name to be tarnished by his actions. He wanted their pride, their strength and their coolness as perceived by his childish mind to continue living through himself. This also did explain why Garaa hadn't once taken Sasuke seriously in his timeline...

"Man look at you two getting all prepared to intervene at any second. So heroic."

The two figures in the leaves jolted, flicking their gazes away from Konohamaru who was currently being held up by Kankuro, to the time traveller with complete and utter shock in their eyes.

He hadn't meant to let those words slip, but the slight amusement he felt was enough to loosen his lips. After all, he had gone almost the entire war without a single hint of humour in his life. And he had once been the kind of kid who would have cracked a joke as he was dying or mocked the shinigami himself without a care in the world.

" HEY YOU IN THE BLACK PIG SUIT! RELEASE HIM NOW AND I'LL GO EASY ON YOU!"

And it would seem that that was exactly what his younger self was doing.

"Ahh, the subtlety of a bull in a china shop... Negotiator extraordinaire over there is going to get someone killed..."

Naruto felt guilty right now, he felt a guilt unlike one he had ever felt before... Because he was enjoying this, it was the same feeling he imagined a master shogi player felt when playing against a beginner. He was enjoying this despite all the people who had died, who were going to die...

It was true that his younger self had enjoyed mocking people, and he remembered why, because it was calming... The burning which had still been very present within his chakra coils was diminished with each syllable he uttered. It was true that technically he was mocking himself, but you know what they say, 'those who can't self criticise never learn.'

The war veteran's midnight blue eyes spotted Sakura holding Naruto in a chokehold, though whether she was trying to stop him from running headlong to his death or kill him, was hard to tell. That reflection alone caused the tiniest of genuine smiles to flitter across his concealed lips. Time to step in...

Garaa had been prepared to cover the strange black clad man in sand and send him to an early grave at the slightest of hostile movements, but his eyes didn't even have time to adjust their focus as his target which they had been locked onto suddenly disappeared. From what the jinchuriki of the Ichibi could tell, the man hadn't even used a body flicker, he was just that fast... And that was very disturbing, the young red head had never seen someone that fast, he didn't dare imagine how fast the man could be if he used chakra. Garaa doubted that even his father, the Kazekage could measure up to that kind of natural speed, and this worried him because his weakness was speed...

Sasuke was thinking things along the same line, though instead of being worried or disturbed he was jealous and intrigued. Why had he never seen or heard of the man before? Was he not a konoha shinobi? From what he could tell he hadn't been wearing a forehead protector, which either made him a retired shinobi, an infiltrator or a civilian. All three possibilities seemed completely impossible to him.

The young Uchiha span back around towards the street, spotting the strange man silently land on the wooden fence with the tips of his feet, crouching down while holding his balance effortlessly. There was something about the man's infuriatingly nonchalant attitude which reminded him of his sensei, that and the strange double eye smile and raised hand as he drew the crowd's attention to himself, as if he were an actor in a play.

One Kakashi in his life was already enough mind numbing yet snarky passiveness to drive the poor Uchiha to the edge, adding a black haired and slightly taller version of him was not what he needed or wanted.

There was a not so healthy amount of trepidation hidden behind the cool attitude that Naruto was giving off, he was just glad that there were only very few anbu and jonin in the area, if there had been even a few more, he probably would have stayed hidden and let things play out. After all, he knew nothing bad would happen.

"Heya Suna kiddies, might not want to kill the Hokage's grandson there... You know war isn't generally good for one's rep, 'specially if they were an ally... Could really piss off your father too, would hate for that to happen wouldn't we?"

Every single eye in the clearing fell on him like a pile of bricks made out of the heaviest material in the world. He wanted to reach his hand up to his chest and grip above his heart where an unbearable pain was present, this time not caused by his fluctuating charka. Instead he simply breathed through his nose, trying his best to maintain the cheery and nonchalant facade... Though a part of him was berating the other for acting as if everything was fine. The only conclusion as to why he had decided to do this was that the mask covering his face wasn't the only one he was wearing.

"Th-th-the Hokage's grandson ? Kankuro you dumbass !"

A stone shot out from the tree that the time traveller had been in just before, colliding with Kankuro's hand and causing the Suna genin to drop his prey. In the same instant the young Uchiha leapt down, as coolly as possible and positioned himself between the two opposing groups. All three girls in the clearing noting how cool he had been, though those thoughts quickly vanished when a cold voice echoed out from the exact same tree he had been in.

"You're a disgrace to our entire village, Kankuro."

The statement was harsh coming from one sibling to another, and only doubly so because of the chakra that seemed to saturate the air with every syllable. The pressure was almost choking the three academy students who had yet to partake in a real fight, as the source leapt down into the fray from his upside down position in the tree, his eyes still focused on the man who was currently on the fence.

"It annoys me that you would lose control in a quarrel with children, you would cost us not only the reason we came here but also start a war between our nations ?"

_' Prematurely start a war and besides...'_

"...You know you aren't really one to talk Garaa-san."

The first part had been in his head but apparently self control was non existent when you're from the future... His words seemed to send a spark of shock through all three siblings, for one reason or another.

_'He would say that to Garaa's face ?'_

_'He's got a death wish !'_

_'Who is this man, mother ?'_

Rather than linger on the man's words any longer, Garaa turned fully towards the Konoha shinobi and seemed to bow slightly. Something which shocked Temari and Kankuro, though not as much as it did the man who was observing them, it was just that he did a much better job at hiding it.

"I apologise on my siblings' behalf, I would have thought they had outgrown the need to be taught manners."

Despite looking straight at the young genin in front of him, the words seemed to be aimed more so towards the oldest person in the area, than the children who were in front of them.

"H-hey Garaa, you gotta understand th-"

"Shut up. Or I'll kill you."

The words were spoken in a cold tone and the threat was most definitely real, a detail that shook Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke to the bone. He would so easily kill his brother and team-mate ? Never would Kakashi complain about their teamwork again after hearing about this.

"Besides, we didn't come early just to play around."

"S-s-sorry, it won't happen again..."

"Let's go."

Something was off, something about all of this was wrong... At least that's how Naruto felt, having already lived through this event once before. Garaa was acting completely different than he had when it was him in the blond brat's blue sandals... Perhaps it was a matter of perspective but the dark haired time traveller could remember a lot more bloodshot eyes and invasive killing intent... In comparison despite the cold gaze and offhanded death threats, this Garaa seemed almost tame... Then again to the kids below trying their best not to shake in their sandals, it must have been a whole different story, even Zabuza hadn't been as bone chillingly cold as this.

As the three sand siblings were leaving, someone had to open their mouth, though for once it was neither Konohamaru nor the young Naruto.

"Wait! By your forehead protectors you three are from Sunagakure right? You might be our allies but according to the treaty you can't just waltz-"

"Now now pinky, don't antagonize the crazy people, they were leaving and that was a good thing... Mhh, though the the blonde girl seems pretty sane, then again anything would seem pretty sane next to those other two... Besides, surely you know about the chunin selection exam, smart as you seem, right?"

The black haired man's sarcasm was like thick honey dripping from every word. Though he was certain all three sand siblings took offence to what he had said, neither Temari nor Kankuro would react as long as Garaa didn't and the fact that he didn't shocked them both.

Though calm on the outside, Naruto was fighting an inner battle, his mind was in a state of turmoil. He knew he could sit back and do nothing, in fact in this case doing something was probably worse than doing nothing, and yet here he was... It was as if he was desperately trying to convince himself that he had to intervene, that he had to save the world just as his inhuman friends had told him to and yet at the same time he wanted nothing to do with any of this, fate had long since set out a path for his younger self.

Though you wouldn't be able to tell he was intent to not get involved as he was currently stood next to Sakura, patting her head while she looked as though she wanted to bite his hand off. Sasuke was also eyeing up the incognito time traveller with a suspicious gaze. Meanwhile Naruto just seemed completely lost as to what his future self was saying.

Temari, in reaction to the strange man and Sakura's conversation, retrieved a small leather bound booklet from one of her pockets, presenting it proudly.

"That's right, if you want to double check... Ta-da, my travelling papers."

The young Naruto ignored Temari in favour of turning to the older man with an inquisitive look.

"Umm... What's the chunin selection exam ?"

"Ah, well-"

Not liking being ignored the blond Suna Kunoichi pushed into the conversation as rudely as possible.

" Hmph, you really don't know ? If you're an example as to what the rest of konoha's genin are like, I feel a little bit of pity. Junior ninja, or genin are sent from Sunagakure and other allied nations in order to compete against Konoha's own candidates. "

Naruto just seemed even more confused, but to his merit instead of asking the same question again he passed on to the next one. Though whether that was actually because he knew it would be rude to ask the same question again or because he couldn't be bothered, only he could know. Well him and his future self, who knew it was the latter.

"Why do they test us all together ?"

"Well mainly to maintain the skill level of all shinobi at the same level... But also to foster friendship and understanding between- Hey ! It's good manners to listen to the answer of your own question!"

Indeed, Naruto, rather than listen to her answer, had instead turned to Konohamaru and begun getting himself hyped up for joining the chunin selection exam. Sasuke decided that this would be the appropriate moment to ask for the red haired's name, though Kankuro had already used it, the time traveller guessed that it was to try and gather as much intel as he possibly could, either that or it was just to seem cool.

"Hey, the basilisk over there, what's your name?"

"Garaa of the desert, at your service... And you are?"

"Sasuke Uchiha."

There was a moment of silence where both genin stared each other down, trying to determine how strong the other was just by looking. Though for Garaa it seemed more as though he was staring at the man just over the sharingan wielder's shoulder.

The spell was suddenly broken however by the orange clad jester who seemed like he had been bursting to say something the whole time and had gotten tired of waiting.

"Hey, hey! Don't you want to know my name?"

"No."

And with that the sand siblings left in hastily used shunshins. The veteran settled for ignoring Naruto who was trying to reinvigorate his crushed pride by talking with Konohamaru and failing miserably. Meanwhile the black haired man seemed to stare up at a random tree, though if someone had been paying attention they might have noticed the slight shifting of one of the branches as three figures darted off.

Though no one had noticed them in his previous timeline, it would have seemed as though even at this point, Orochimaru and the sound shinobi were lurking in the shadows. Midnight blue eyes turned to look at the raven haired young boy, worry slightly tinting them. Though said raven haired boy took notice of this and turned towards the source of the gaze.

" Who are you? You aren't wearing a forehead protector so it would be easy enough to think that you aren't a shinobi, but your attitude, skills and knowledge are way beyond a civilian. So who are you? Are you also here because of the chunin exams?"

"Ah... A good guess but no...I guess you could say I'm retired... The name's Kamen Sakamoto... Nice ta meetcha brats."

The quirky double eye smile that he gave the three genin was enough to tick off a saint, but Sasuke saw something in this 'Kamen Sakamoto's eyes, something which he thought he recognised, though very faintly.


	3. Chapter 3- The Third Training Ground

**Chapter 3- The Third Training Ground**

* * *

"No man is an island,

entire of itself."

-JOHN DONNE

* * *

The early morning sky was a shade of calming pale blue as the many inhabitants of Konoha stirred from their slumber. The sun seemed dim as it greeted the waking world, which for an outsider might have seemed like a strange occurrence, doubly so because it was already the middle of June, but in reality it was quite an ordinary sight. Though the summer in the land of fire ran long, it was not usually unbearably hot and unlike many of the other nations, save the land of rain, it had a high percentage of rainfall.

So when Naruto Uzumaki, or rather Kamen Sakamoto, a name he had inscribed onto his fake visa in the heat of the moment, looked out his window and spotted the distant grey clouds, he could tell that it was soon to rain.

Yesterday had been a total, complete and utter failure in Kamen's eyes. Not only had he failed miserably at finding a way to make money, which he had discovered was ridiculously hard when you weren't a registered shinobi, but he had also made contact with team seven and the sand siblings. Looking back on it he couldn't even begin to comprehend what he had been thinking, the way he had acted made him want to crawl up into a ball under his sheets and disappear. But if the war veteran had had the guts to kill himself, he would have done so long before the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War. His will to 'never give up' had soured into a fear of death, 'never stop running' had become his new motto, after all had he stopped he would have likely died.

But being in the past, seeing everything so clearly and at arms length, was very different. It was easy enough, when he was alone and locked away within the confines of his flat, to think 'I won't do anything, it's pointless' but when he was confronted with the possibility of perhaps changing something, even if only slightly... He was too weak to resist the temptation.

Burying his inner turmoil beneath the surface, he stepped out of his flat, went along the walkway and down the steps and arrived into the same street he had stood in yesterday. Though today, rather than the hustle and bustle of the civilians on a warm and comforting Friday, the streets were almost empty. The slight chill in the air probably factoring into whether or not people left the warm embrace of their homes.

Of course Saturday may have been a day of rest for the civilian populace of Konoha, but for shinobi and the places they frequented, it was business as usual. Having managed to completely stabilise his chakra with a bit of meditating, Kamen could now effortlessly make out the faintest sounds of Anbu and Jonin dancing across the red, green and blue slate roofs.

So far, little to no suspicion was on him, seeing as his visa only listed him as a civilian from the Land of Claws. However he was certain that if he hung around team seven, more than a bit of interest from both Kakashi and Hiruzen Sarutobi would fall on him. One might wonder how the Hokage would even find out about him, but the old man had many ways, one of them being Anbu. Though certainly there would be no official mission to guard the young blond brat, there was always a loyal off-duty Anbu willing to take time off and keep an eye on the boy. Kamen himself had only found such a thing out when Kakashi slipped up in one of their post battle conversations... It made sense though, why risk leaving the village's trump card unguarded?

As his mind wirred and he let his feet guide him, Kamen was trying to think of a way that he might make some cash. The frustrating thing was that he had no credentials and small tasks were all posted as D-rank missions for the village's genin. This mean that he would have a hard time finding a part-time job, let alone a full time job and that walking up to the nearest business and asking if there was anything he could do was also out the window. Heck, even washing the dishes for a restaurant was a D-rank mission in Konoha.

A fond memory invaded Kamen's mind, one in which he was a good thirteen years younger and doing the exact same thing as he was now, job hunting. It had been just after Hiruzen had stopped paying for his rent after he had graduated from the academy and he had splashed what was left of his savings on the finest Ichiraku ramen... He could still almost taste the heavenly salty broth and deliciously smooth noodles... Haa, it had been totally worth almost getting evicted...

Snapping back to reality and wiping the drool from his lips as the sound of his foot landing on something other than the cobble path he had felt until now, he gazed forwards, fully focused on what was before him.

The peaceful of sound running water caressed his ears as it did the river bank, passing beneath the bridge which was before him. His feet had unconsciously carried him to the place at which he felt the most at ease within himself, a place of utter calm and yet at the same time of violent fighting... The third training ground... Flashes of long repressed memories came flashing back, his rivalry with Sasuke, his crush on Sakura, the way all three of them would always impatiently wait for their tardy yet lovable sensei to arrive... A flash of Kakashi from yesterday entered his mind...

That cold eye that he had seen... It still chilled him, but it was better than what he had seen before, in his timeline... That one lifeless eye, staring into the sky as dried blood ran from the empty socket on the other side of his face like a teardrop.

Kakashi's death had been one of the first which had struck him like a felled tree...

_"Run and don't look back..."_

_"But we can help y-"_

_"What would people think of me if I couldn't even protect my cute little students ? "_

Only after finally making it back to their temporary headquarters had the reunited team seven found out that he was dead, until then they had still held out a foolish hope that he might still be alive.

_"I-I'm s-so sorry N-Naruto-kun... B-but K-Kakashi-sensei... He's dead..."_

Hinata's usual stutter, which he had once found cute, at that time wasn't because she was nervous, but rather because she herself had been devastated. Kamen could still remember and still regretted the harsh and disbelieving words he had hurled at her. He hadn't believed it, didn't want to believe it not until he actually seen it for himself... And that sight was so heart breaking, it was impossible to describe, the feeling of finding your father figure's corpse.

The image of Kakashi's death place was still firmly carved into his mind. It had been somewhere in the land of fire, large trees in every direction and a thick canopy above. Out of the corner of his eye, as he was barrelling through the forest at a blinding pace, he caught sight of it. In a small clearing, a pillar of light pierced the overhead canopy and illuminated a single spot, reflecting off of various sharp metal objects which stuck out of Kakashi's kneeling corpse like a macabre pin cushion. Naruto didn't want to know how many of the various utensils, kunnai, tanto, shuriken and katana that stuck out of his flesh had been inserted while he was still alive, but it told him everything he needed to know.

Kakashi had gone out fighting, his right hand burnt black from an overuse of chidori, his mask half burnt off, exposing his scarred lips, likely also from over using fire jutsu. His head was flung back, as if absorbing the light into his lifeless eye and empty socket where his sharingan should have been. But despite the immense suffering he must have gone through, despite fighting against all odds until his chakra ran dry, despite all this, he had done it for his precious students and he had died with the most satisfied smile you could imagine.

A slight tear began to form in the corner of Kamen's eye, remembering the memory which he had so desperately tried to suppress... It was as if he was re-living it all over again... Mercifully, a high pitched female shout broke him away from his dark thoughts.

"HOW COME WE ALWAYS END UP WAITING AROUND LIKE THIS !"

His eyes snapped back to the bridge before him, eyes catching a glimpse of the current team seven on the other side of the bridge. He was seeing what he had once had from the outside and it pained him greatly. Now was his chance, turn around and leave, none of the three children had noticed him and they wouldn't, not unless he wanted them to... So now was his chance... He could run away, escape the pain and never have anything to do with this world's future... _Run and don't look back_... Something pushed him forwards, it almost felt as though an invisible hand had shoved his shoulder, he was certain that was just his imagination but either way he lost his balance as he ended up stepping fully onto the bridge. That moment of a lapse in concentration was enough for him to make a sound audible enough for the sharpest of the three to pick up.

Two black eyes, slightly simmilar to Kakashi's, though lighter in color and with less of a glint that showed age and experience, locked onto him. The gaze was nowhere near as cold as Kakashi's had been, but it still held a hint of ice and distrust. It was too late to turn back now, how suspicious would it seem if he just suddenly turned his back and legged it like there was no tomorrow? Instead Kamen settled for slowly approaching the trio, finally drawing the attention of the other two on the bridge.

A cold wind blew across the bridge, shifting the scarf that was currently covering the lower half of Kamen's face just enough to reveal that he was indeed still wearing a facemask underneath. Placing his hands in his pockets, more because they were ungloved and it was cold than to look like Kakashi which, save for the man's own brand of slouch, he did.

Sasuke eyed the man approaching them with a healthy amount of caution, of course he would, it was only natural as a shinobi. But the man's disarming and relaxed attitude was more off putting than anything else, the fact that his mannerisms and quirks resembled his sensei was all so eerie... The young Uchiha couldn't help but imagine that if this Kamen Sakamoto character were to dye his hair white, hide one of his eyes with a forehead protector and put in a black contact lens, the two would be indistinguishable from one another... And again Sasuke couldn't help but notice that something about his eyes was the same as his sensei.

"My you all seem very energetic so early in the morning !"

Came Kamen's sleepy greeting, though one could surmise that the fatigue in his voice was for show.

"Sakamoto-san ?"

Sakura was the first to react, though her confusion was obvious and well founded, _why was he here again_?

"It's almost mid-day ?"

The ex-jinchuriki of the nine tails turned his eyes on the current jinchuriki of the nine tails. Midnight blue clashed with bright azure and for a split second Kamen felt as though his younger self could read his mind, though certainly it had nothing to with him turning to the blond boy's fuming pink haired team-mate rather than face him.

"I take it your sensei is a little late then ? "

The amusement in the oldest person on the bridge's voice was obvious, soliciting an aggravated huff from Sasuke, who despite doing his best to pretend he didn't know the two other people his age on the bridge, did little to hide his curiosity when it came to Kamen.

"A little late ?" The raven haired boy's voice parroted back incredulously, "He told us to meet at six."

Kamen, having still been in the process of approaching the trio, almost tripped over his own feet as he heard that... He couldn't remember a time that his Sensei had been as late as that, perhaps an hour or two at most, but five whole hours? That was borderline negligence on the part of the scarecrow.

" Holy s-" Barely able to catch himself in time, the veteran straightened himself up, and started again, "I mean... Wow... Your sensei must really hate you..."

Naruto let out a loud and dramatic sigh, placing one hand on his head and the other at his heart.

"It seems like it sometimes..." The blonde did a fake sniff, wiping away an imaginary tear before actually seeming to get angry, having remember just exactly what they were talking about, "The bastard shows up at the exact specified time some days and then on others he can be up to six hours late! Which means that we can't just sleep in every time we're supposed to meet in case he actually arrives on time, and then we're the ones who get our asses handed to us 'cause we're late!"

"Geez... That's..." Kamen mulled over a way to phrase the suffering they must be going though only to decide on a simple; "Harsh..."

The three kids all nodded, seeming to sync up in a moment of shared mutual understanding. But after that little humorous play, a slightly awkward silence invaded the air. Naruto, short attention span that he had, had started absently gawking at the fish swimming along the rived underneath. Sasuke had his arms crossed and eyes closed, with one leg bent and resting on the half wall of the bridge. Sakura was dreamily borderline leering at the latter with heart shaped eyes and mumblings of 'so cool' escaping her lips... Meanwhile Kamen just stood there awkwardly, switching who he looked at every now and again. Didn't they have anything to do?

He hadn't intended on meeting them again, in fact he had hoped against all odds that he wouldn't... Fate however, seemed to have other things planned for him, forcing him into this situation where his whole body felt uneasy, screaming at him to turn away, run and never look back. Though that feeling was slightly duller than it had been the day before.

Deciding that there was no point holding onto the cliff's edge if he was going to fall anyway, he asked the first thing that came to his mind.

"So why don't you guys train a bit until your sensei gets here ?"

"Hey yeah why don't we do that ?" Naruto intelligently exclaimed, turning from the fish back to the current most interesting thing going on, "At least then we won't be wasting our time !"

"Naruto-baka, we're not all like you, we don't have the energy to train in the morning and then again with Kakashi-sensei... Plus sometimes we have to take missions, tiring ourselves out before those is not a good idea... Remember the Land of Waves?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly before placing his arms behind his head and staring up at the sky as if remembering or reflecting on something.

"Hn, Speak for yourself, I'm sure I'd be fine."

Sasuke had always acted a little 'high and mighty', he didn't act like a jerk, unless Naruto called him one, but he still seemed to keep an arrogant distance from the two other members of team seven. Of course that was just a mask, and when the mask slipped away, the real Sasuke showed up, as scared and unsure of the future as a twelve year old should be when his entire clan was massacred. The first time Kamen had seen the true Sasuke, in his timeline at least, had been not long before the chunin exams and before he had gotten _'his'_ cursed seal...

Come to think of it that wasn't that far away was it? But that wasn't his concern... Instead Kamen remembered that moment when the last loyal Uchiha had thought to be alone, sadness had clouded his eyes, such a deep rooted and hopeless sadness, but behind those clouds was the raging inferno of hatred as bright as the sun and a thunderous thirst for vengeance...

What would happen, Kamen couldn't help but wonder, if he told the young boy the truth about his brother, here and now? Would he regain the love for his brother and garner a hatred for the leaf as he once had? Or would passive acceptance settle in as it did when Konoha was destroyed by Madara and the Juubi? Would it change anything? Something? No... The current Sasuke Uchiha wouldn't believe a word he said and at the soonest possible occasion, Anbu would pounce on the time traveller and drag him off to Torture and Interrogation, never to be seen again.

"Then why aren't you training Uchiha-san ?"

Calling Sasuke, Uchiha-san felt more awkward than if he would have to call the old man, 'Hokage-sama'. He had 'learnt' all of their names the day before but if he just straight up called him Sasuke-kun like Hiruzen or Kakashi did, it would be even weirder.

The young black haired boy turned his face to the side, seeming to be angry at being contradicted by his own actions or rather non-action in this case. However, Kamen caught a glimpse of something, a light rosy tint to the boys cheeks? Was he embarrassed?

A sudden a violent pain erupted in his mind, feeling as though it was about to split as a handful of words jumbled themselves to his attention,_"- a few discrepancies due to-"_ However rather than focus on them or listen to them, he quashed the memory, forcing the pain in his mind to a halt. He forced Kurama's distant voice back into the cellar where forgotten things belonged. He would never again be able to befriend the Fox, not like he once had... He would never be able to form the same bonds he had once held with his precious people... The ones that he had had were dead. The ones before him belonged to his younger self and he wasn't cruel enough to want to take that away from him.

On the outside, Kamen showed no visible signs of the pain he felt both in his mind and in his heart, instead he decided to focus on something else.

" You know Haruno-san th-"

The pink haired girl did little to hide the blush that blossomed on her cheeks as she politely interrupted. That was also strange, since when had Sakura been so... Well… Polite and submissive? Kamen couldn't recall a time when she hadn't been a straightforward, no nonsense type of person. It wasn't that she was rude, but rather when she addressed someone she didn't know it was in a business-like manner. Then again perhaps his memory was just bad, it had never really been his strong suit.

"Please Sakamoto-san, just call me Sakura, the way you say it sounds like my mother..."

A mischievous glint lit up in the time traveller's eyes as he felt the same invigorating feeling as when he came up with a brilliant prank when he was a kid.

"Ma, Okay... Ah, but call me _Kamen~kyun._"

The pink haired girl stood slacked jawed in shock, her eyebrow twitching slightly before her mouth closed and her eyes narrowed in disgust. Now that was the look he remembered! Wait... That was a bad thing wasn't it? He swiftly Decided it was best to let out a hearty and carefree laugh rather than let the three kids think he was some kind of weird pervert, kami knew they had enough of those surrounding them.

He plopped his hand down on the pink haired girl's head and ruffled her hair up, though it felt strange to do this to someone he had once considered a loyal and respected team-mate, it had been their first interaction in this timeline so he was aiming to make her think that it was just one of the things that he did. Besides Jiraya had always done the same and though he used to pretend that he didn't like it as a kid, the human contact was nice.

"Ma~, ma~, I'm kidding, no need to look at me like that. But do call me Kamen, same for you two. I already look old enough as it is without the 'Sakamoto-san'."

True enough, perhaps due to a lack of sleep or just because of the fact that he had lived through a war, the slight bags under the man's eyes did add a few years to his twenty five years of age.

"Hn."

"Okay! Kamen sound way cooler than Sakamoto anyway!" Naruto exclaimed happily, probably he was just glad that Kamen wasn't ignoring him or treating him like he might go berserk any second, but his face suddenly flashed with realisation as if he had remembered something of great importance. "Mhh, but weren't you going to say something Kamen ?"

There were a lot of strange things that had been going on since he had arrived in the past, but his younger self's lack of -dattebayo had to be strangest. The phrase should have been 'Kamen sounds way cooler than Sakamoto anyway-dattebayo!' It just sounded right, right? Although in the end it did seem a bit strange... When had he himself lost that verbal tick? It was hard to pinpoint the exact moment as a lot of more important things were going on at the time... Was it when Hinata had died? Maybe it was when Sakura had? Or was it when Sasuke bit the bullet ? It didn't really matter either way.

" I-I was..." Kamen stuttered, trying to shake away the dark thoughts that clouded his mind. Back on track he started with what he had originally planned for this conversation to lead to. "Training doesn't have to involve tiring yourself out, there are simple meditation exercises or chakra exercises that require barely any energy. There are even some stretches that don't take much out of you and toughen up your muscles."

" Like what ? Are they super cool ? "

Kamen couldn't help but chuckle at the young blonde's enthusiasm, placing a hand on his head and ruffling his hair. With that done, he began walking towards a the middle of the training ground's clearing, pleased when he heard the three young children following in step behind him. A wave of nostalgia hit him as he walked, spotting the three training posts, one of which he had been tied to because of Kakashi's bell test, and also catching a glimpse of the memorial stone, a huge black rock with the names of all the people who had died fighting for the village engraved into it.

Just breathing the clean and relaxing air here was like a dream to him. But he couldn't let his mind wonder, he was supposed to be teaching these three something useful, something that they wouldn't have had in his timeline... Something that might help them... As he stopped he also heard the footfall behind him stop, twisting around to face his three temporary pupils, he was greeted with three sets of expectant eyes... All three of them were impatient and excited, but there was also a strange innocence to their eyes, even in Sasuke's... Their parents' should have taught them not to trust strangers so easily... If he had been one of Orochimaru's spies... Either way, the academy or even Kakashi should have taught them distrust, even if their parents hadn't... Or maybe it was just his amazing and charismatic aura? Heh...

"Well I don't really know anything about you three so the training methods that I propose may not be to your liking..." With the disclaimer given in advance, Kamen felt slightly less pressured, which allowed him to continue with a tad more freedom, "From what I've seen and heard about Naruto-kun, meditation would be the most enriching experience for him..."

The looks on the Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto's faces changed from expectancy to disbelief, incredulity and horror. A slight sweatdrop ran down the side of Kamen's face at their reactions, he wasn't really _that_ bad was he? I mean he managed to master the toad's Sage meditation quickly enough so how could he not be able to do some simple calming exercises? He had done it many times during his training with Jiraya and it hadn't been that bad... Although... Come to think of it both Jiraya and Fukasaku had resorted to slamming a blunt utensil onto him everytime he would twitch... Phantom pains still haunted him to this day from their beatings...

"Now, I know what you're all thinking but all that energy he has is pointless, I can sense how unstable his chakra is from here... If he could calm himself through meditation his effectiveness in battle would be tripled... Surely your sensei in the academy taught you about chakra formation, right ?"

Two yes' and a no almost made Kamen facepalm.

"Naruto-baka, I even gave you a catch-up lesson about it in wave! Does all the information just bounce off of that thick skull of yours ?"

Naruto seemed to think for a few seconds before a light bulb of recognition sparked up in his mind.

"Oh yeah! I remember now, chakra is made up of physical and spiritual energy right ?"

Sakura nodded in disbelief that he had actually remembered what she had said, then again, knowing him he probably had only remembered it to try and show off. Shaking her head with a sigh she turned back to Kamen waiting for him to finish.

"Well I suppose that theory is, in essence, true; though It is a very simplified explanation for youngsters." Trying to remember vaguely what he had learnt about chakra during the war was quite hard. During the first few years the boffins had gone ham in their labs trying to solve every problem from the origins of chakra to what a soul truly was... They did well, but before the third year was over, most lay dead. "Now, the term 'spiritual energy' comes from the elemental nation's more pious background, but in empirical terms, this 'spiritual energy' is made up of one's unique and personal traits, from the way you think to your natural instincts, basically it's what you could call the 'psyche'. This gives your chakra its nature. This also explains why shinobi oriented towards specialising their sensory skills sometimes can tell different chakra apart by how they 'feel'... You could say they differentiate chakra the same way we differentiate food. Meanwhile the 'physical energy' is the driving force behind your chakra, in the same way that your muscles draw their strength from the oxygen in your blood, the 'physical energy' of your chakra draws its strength from the different energies your body produces. From heat, lactic acid, protein and DNA, that is what your chakra takes its driving force from, in simple terms it draws its strength from what makes up your body, muscles and all. You get it? "

There were three affirmative nods which took Kamen by surprise, until Naruto did a double take and shook his head, which was all of a sudden much less surprising.

On the other end of the spectrum Sakura desperately looked like she wanted to note down every word of what he was saying, but due to lack of paper was instead seeming to play back his words in her head so as to fully understand and remember them. And then there was Sasuke who suddenly looked confused.

"What's 'DNA' ?"

_'crap'_ "Ah... That's may be a little too complicated for you three to understand just yet..."

Deoxyribonucleic acid... It was one of the earlier discoveries the Konoha science team made, they stumbled across the major discovery while trying to find a way to stop the reanimated soldiers and understand how the White Zetsu reproduced... A shinobi's DNA could be extremely dangerous in the wrong hand... Ain't that right Orochimaru? Of course they called them cells back then or rather back now? Time travel was confusing... Hashirama's cells, his DNA, made into a living weapon...

"Anyway, all of this explains why someone who is bloodthirsty by nature will have such an imposing presence even for non-sensor types, or why someone like Naruto-kun here, who is by nature energetic will have very unstable chakra..." Kamen turned to focus down on Naruto who still seemed as though he was having trouble following, but at the very least he wasn't completely lost. "In fact I'm sure you've had plenty of trouble with jutsu that require small amounts of chakra, right? Perhaps the bunshin jutsu, for example?"

Naruto's eyes seemed to widen as if the pieces of some obscure puzzle just magically fell into place.

"Hey, yeah! That's spot on! I'm absolutely rubbish at the clone jutsu... But I don't need 'em, I've got my shadow clones, they're way more kick ass anyway, so why should I have to learn how to do this meditation thingy?"

Kamen feigned surprise and interest at 'discovering' Naruto's capabilities, the young boy looking like a dog with two tails.

"Oh? Shadow clones? Interesting... You definitely have a lot of chakra then... I heard that even making a single shadow clone is enough to tire out the most experienced of Jonin... I suppose some might push you towards chakra control exercises like tree climbing and water walking, but that won't benefit you much... You want to know why meditation will be good for you? If I were to ask you to make as many shadow clones as you could, how many would you be able to make?"

Naruto seemed to hesitate a little, placing a hand on his chin, trying to run through his mind the many times he had used his favourite technique...

"I guess... Maybe a Hundred ?"

Kamen again feigned surprised and pretended to 'hide' it by nodding and placing a hand to his chin, in very much the same manner that the young blonde had.

"That's not bad... Not bad at all, but if you meditated and perhaps did a few chakra control exercises on the side, you'd be able to make the triple of that maybe even more." Letting that fact sink in to the young blonde's mind he didn't hesitate to use the carrot of being even cooler and strong. "You see if your chakra is by nature unstable or excited if you prefer, due to its user's personality then it will be almost impossible to tame with pure chakra control exercises alone, even if you were to work for ten years straight on it. Without meditation you would barely be on par with a genin who's been doing both for a year. And also, a calmer chakra and mind would not only help you in a fight, but also opens up a wide range of different jutsu... You understand why it's important now ?"

All three of his temporary students had been listening, despite the fact that he had only been aiming the speech at one of them, it seemed that his words had put them into a state of awe. The only question running though there mind now was that, why the hell hadn't the Academy taught them all this? You would think it was kind of goddamned important, wouldn't you?!

"Wh-what about me Kamen-san ?"

Sakura seemed slightly hesitant to ask, but at the same time seeing how well Kamen had diagnosed Naruto's main flaw and proposed a fix, all of which without having to do some intense training regime, had motivated her.

"Ah... I mean, you're not from a clan right ? You don't seem physically overpowering... I can feel that your chakra reserves are a little on the small side... I'm really not that sure..." Though Kamen wasn't as certain with Naruto as he was with Sakura, after all, Naruto's current problems had once been his own, so he knew well how to fix them... On the other hand... Sakura and Sasuke were a bit different... After the start of the war and also because of Sasuke defecting, all three members of team seven had grown rather distant... "Your chakra control is probably exceedingly good but that's only because you have such little chakra at your disposal... Meditation wouldn't do you any good, neither would any chakra building exercises... I suppose the best thing for you would be to develop some muscle and perhaps learn a few defensive taijutsu moves..."

The image of an oiled up muscly man posing with his oversized biceps flashed through Sakura's head and a shiver went up her spine as she imagined herself with the same kind of body. No way in hell was she going to do that, she wanted to look good damn it! How else was she going to get Sasuke?

"Um... Thank you Kamen-san but I'm not sure that's really what I want to do..."

Kamen knew well what she was thinking, but instead pretended to be confused at her reaction.

"Really ? It would not only increase your all around effectiveness in combat, but it would help improve the amount of chakra at your disposal. In my mind if you want to keep on working as a shinobi that's the only way forwards..."

"But-but... But I don't want to look like an oily muscle-bound idiot!"

Kamen hadn't been expecting that kind of response, so much so that he couldn't stop neither his eyebrow from raising, nor the chuckle that escaped from his lips, slightly muffled by his scarf.

"That's not the kind of muscle I'm talking about. Besides, those kinds of people use a substantial amount of drugs, either that or they lift weights twenty four hours a day and eat pure protein. No, the kind of muscle you want to build up as a shinobi should be lean. The best kind of exercise for that would be jogging, squats, light weight lifting and even push-ups if you think it won't tire you out too much... You also need to eat the proper amount of protein and fat, otherwise you won't build up muscle and you won't lose your body fat, if you starve yourself of nutrients you body will go into emergency mode and try to retain as much energy as possible in order to survive, that includes the unhealthy fat that hangs around on organs vital for physically demanding activities."

Obviously Sakura had never met a real dietitian, otherwise the shock that was apparent on her face would not have been there in the first place. Of course it wasn't entirely her fault, the misleading, manipulative and borderline evil gossip magazines she had at home could shoulder the majority of the blame, along with their creators. They always said something along the lines of 'eat as little fat and carbohydrates as possible, even better just don't eat anything at lunchtime!', how most of that garbage even got published, only kami knew. This also clarified in Sakura's mind why she hadn't been losing any weight, in fact if anything she had put on a little bit recently.

"Of course you'd need to do this kind of thing everyday and the results won't appear after two or three days... Take stock of yourself before and then once again in two months, just that amount of time should allow you to see the change, even if it is only a slight difference, it should be noticeable... " Kamen then turned from looking at Sakura, who now seemed to be going over her life choices in her head and trying to figure out where she went wrong, to Sasuke who was feigning disinterest. "Ah, I suppose that leave you, Sasuke."

"Hn... I don't think there's much you can do to help me... My training regime and eating habits are perfect. I've read up and asked Jonin for the best ways to improve myself. Nothing about my training is flawed, unlike those two."

Kamen brought his hand up to scratch his scalp, he knew well the kind of regime Sasuke had, hellish, but extremely effective... That didn't mean that there was nothing to say to the boy that might improve his situation.

"While that may be true, I still think a little bit of meditation like Naruto would do you some good... I'm not unaware of the tragedy that befell your family in the past, not many people are. As well as meditation, I think just a simple hobby would do you some good."

Sasuke froze on the spot, as did his two team-mates, they both knew how touchy that subject was and were half prepared for the last loyal Uchiha to try and knock the man's lights out. Instead his mind was reeling from the fact that someone had actually mentioned what had happened to him... People didn't bring that up, it just didn't happen. Either he brought it up and they showered him in unwanted pity or nothing. And yet stood just in front of him was a man who save for using the word 'massacre', outright calmly and coolly stated that his entire family being killed in front of his eyes might have done a little mental damage.

Kamen gained a hefty amount of respect for that, to the contrary of what his two team-mates were expecting. Thawing his tense muscles out, the raven haired boy straighten himself up and pondered as to what the older dark haired man had said.

"A hobby? How would that help me improve in any way?"

It was interesting from Kamen's point of view that Sasuke hadn't question him about meditation, perhaps he knew full well the good that it would do him, that and it may have been in order to avoid a touchy conversational subject.

"You'd be surprised how much it might help." Pausing to reflect on his words carefully, Kamen mulled the words he was about to say both in his mind, trying to think of the best way to put it. "I've lived long enough... Seen enough conflict to know that focusing one's attention on power and knowledge, on defeating your enemies as effectively as possible and all in all, locking yourself into the world of shinobi with no escape routes, is a very bad idea. I've seen men, women and children on all levels of the ninja world, die pointlessly because of it. I've seen loyal soldiers sacrifice themselves for their leader without a seconds hesitation when if they had stopped and thought things through, there were plenty of other options, because of an almost zealous belief in protecting their leader. I've seen leaders themselves perish because they were unsure what the best outcome would be for their subordinates, when the best thing would have been for them to live. I've seen child soldiers, unsuited for battle, give in to hatred and revenge, having witnessed their comrades perish, charge right at the object of their hatred only to be cut down from behind... A hobby may only be the smallest of steps towards avoiding that kind of fate, but it is a crucial one that cannot be overlooked."

Kamen's words had intended to shake the three genin, not just Sasuke, and he had succeeded. For Naruto who wanted to be a leader, for Sakura who wanted to be a loyal soldier, even if only slightly, and for Sasuke who saw himself all too well in the final example... These words were precious and all three of them knew they would not soon forget them.

The resulting silence from the time traveller's speech was so heavy and thick that you could almost cut through it with a knife. Instead of a knife however, they got an eerily chirpy voice.

"Oh my! Whilst I accidentally wondered off of the path of life, my cute little genin have been cheating on me with another sensei, unacceptable !"

The voice echoed out of the forest, in the direction of the memorial stone, which was where all four people in the clearing spotted the man's figure emerge from the shadows. His eye was closed in one of his casual eye smiles, one hand was in his pocket and the other flicking through the pages of a certain orange book. However, only one person in the clearing noticed that when his eye opened, rather than focus on the page that his fingers had stopped on, it was focused solely on Kamen.

"YOU'RE LATE ! AND DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT, IT'S JUST WRONG !"

Kakashi slowly made his way before his young students and their temporary teacher, his eye sticking on the other man in the clearing like glue. Only when he stopped, towering over his students, did his gaze break away from the man. Even so, Kamen didn't let out a sigh, for fear of either drawing attention to himself again, or making the man suspicious.

"I was going to announce that I had signed you up to the chunin selection exam but seeing as I'm no longer your sensei I can't sign you up to anything can I ?"

Naruto blinked at his sensei, who was clutching at his heart and throwing his head back in mock-agony. There was a slight pause as all three children slowly registered what the silver haired man had said.

"Wait... What?"

Naruto, rather than suddenly start jumping around in joy just squinted his eyes and pointed an accusing finger at his sensei.

"Nice try sensei! I ain't fooled, but that sure is a mean joke! And just in case you were serious about the other thing, you don't have to worry, you're still our sensei... Though I don't think it would be the end of the world if Kamen did replace you."

Kakashi pretended to get physical hit by each of Naruto's words, taking a step back as big fake crocodile tears began escaping from his eye. He pulled three paper forms with the kanji for fire stamped on them out of his green vest and then prepared to rip them up.

"Wow! Wait a sec!"

Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto all reacted simultaneously, leaping towards their sensei in a desperate attempt to stop him from ripping up the precious pieces of paper. Unluckily for them, Kakashi easily and swiftly dodged out of their way, leaving the three of them in a ball of tangled limbs.

Leaving them to try and free themselves from each other, both men looked on with amusement. After they finally managed to separate themselves, all three of them seemed flushed pink with embarrassment, but that quickly faded when Kakashi dangled the slips in front of them. Hesitantly all three genin took a paper each, careful not to get in each other's way.

"Fill out the applications and sign them."

The reality of the situation finally dawned on Naruto and the overwhelming joy he felt pushed his legs into action like coiled springs.

" I LOVE YOU SENSEI !"

Colliding with the silver haired man he laced his arms around his neck and moved his face closer to the older man, as if he were going to kiss him, instead he began rubbing his cheek against the masked man's face like a cat. Kamen couldn't hold his laughter as the elite jonin attempted his best to act completely normal despite the orange ball of energy wrapped around his neck like a scarf.

"Maa Naruto, you're embarrassing me in front of your other sensei!"

When Kamen's laughter returned to his less enthusiastic chuckle, he couldn't help but notice how heartwarming the scene before him was... It reminded him just how important Kakashi was to him, even at this point in time... Kakashi... A flash of the heroic death scene that had sent him to the next world played itself in Kamen's mind. His eyes blurred slightly as he held back the tears in his eyes, crying in front of them now would just make him look like a weirdo. In an attempt to hide his watery eyes, he closed them slightly so that they were half lidded, just like Kakashi's.

Said white haired elite jonin did not miss the look that Kamen was giving them, despite focusing mainly on getting his orange loving student off of him. He recognised that pained expression, after all he had fought in the Third Great Ninja War, many people, even from his generation were veterans of that terrible war.

Finally prying himself away from Naruto's surprisingly steel like grip, Kakashi straightened up his hair and coughed lightly into his hand, putting on his usual nonchalant sensei face.

"Right... Now, if any of you don't wish to enter the exam it's not mandatory. You only need to turn in those applications if you want to. If you do want to participate, the exam is in two weeks so we can take that time to fully prepare you or we can do missions as usual, it's up to you."

All three genin looked down at the pieces of paper in their hands... Such simple looking things and yet the implications behind them were heavy. A paradoxical mix of excitement and anxiety brewed within the rookies of team seven. But their reflections on the matter were brushed under the rug by their borderline obnoxious sensei.

"So aren't you going to introduce me to your other sensei ?"

Kakashi eye smiled, knowing full well that it would trigger Naruto's sense of loyalty that he kept insinuating he was being unfaithful to his sensei.

"Stop calling him that! He-he was just giving us pointers!"

Deciding perhaps it was time they gave their opinions as well, in order to vouch for the peculiar black haired man, Sasuke and Sakura both spoke up.

"Hn, his name is Kamen Sakamoto."

"He's really smart and he knows a lot of neat things! Ah... I mean he's very well versed in shinobi practises..."

Kakashi's only visible eyebrow curved upwards out of curiosity, the more he heard the more he seemed intrigued by the man... Whether or not he that was an act, well only Kakashi himself knew.

"Is that so ?"

Kamen saw the silver haired man turn to look in his direction and a wave of unease washed over him. His response had seemed... Artificial. Had he been listening in on their conversations? Kamen hadn't sensed the man until he had stepped out of the shadows despite how in tune he was with nature energy. Sure enough his ability to detect chakra signatures was diminished when he wasn't in sage mode, but that didn't mean that his senses were completely dull... If Kakashi had been listening in then... He had messed up... If Kakashi found anything suspicious about him, if he even got a waft of Kamen knowing something he shouldn't... It wouldn't end well... Even then, Kakashi's eyes portrayed his intrigue in him well enough... That alone meant his dream of shutting himself in his flat and waiting for the end of the world was dead and buried...

"My name is Kakashi Hatake, it's a pleasure to meet you Kamen-san..." Kakashi walked over to Kamen and shook his hand, all the while obviously looking him up and down. "Would you like to have a drink with me whilst my students ponder on their futures?"

This. Was. Bad. First of all, Kamen had never known Kakashi to be a drinker, not in his timeline. In fact he had once said it 'dulled the senses'. Secondly, he had only ever see the man get friendly around Asuma, Kurenai and Gai... Perhaps Hayate, Genma and Yugao to a lesser degree, but the point was he wasn't the type of guy who invited people he had just met to a bar. Kakashi was like a recluse when it came to befriending people, despite his friendly outwards appearance... Whether that was because he didn't trust people easily or if it was for some other obscure reason, the point still stood... Kamen was tempted to refuse, but he knew all too well that doing so would draw the most attention and suspicion onto himself.

"I've got nothing better to do."

Kamen eye smiled, to which Kakashi did as well, but the only thing running through Kamen's mind was,_ 'I do actually have something better to do and that's getting some money!'_, and spending what he had left of it on drinks with the silver haired jonin wasn't exactly going to help!


	4. Chapter 4- The Trusty Kunnai

**Chapter 4- The Trusty Kunnai**

* * *

"He who has a why to live for

can bear almost any how."

-FRIEDRICH NIETZSCH, _Twilight of the Idols_, "Maxims and Arrows"

* * *

It wasn't that late, around half past two, but the big grey and black clouds hanging in the sky had blotted out the sun, meaning that most of Konoha was in darkness. Lights which would normally be used during the night had been powered on and many neon business signs flickered along the side of the busier avenues.

Two men of around the same age walked through an almost empty street in total silence, not even their footfall made a sound. The ongoing quiet was slightly awkward, it had been like that since Kamen and Kakashi had parted from team seven in order to go for a drink.

They had been walking for so long that Kamen had begun to think that Kakashi didn't even know where he was going, until suddenly he turned to the left and headed down an alleyway. Not wanting to be left behind, Kamen swiftly followed suit.

On either side of the cramped alley were stone walls belonging to the buildings surrounding them, water pipes and ventilation conduits giving off steam lined them by the dozen. It was surprising how long and how many turns the alley seemed to take, almost like a maze, and although Kakashi seemed to be arbitrarily deciding which way they were headed, there must have been some logic to his choices.

Finally the pair stepped out into a strange street, it couldn't have been more than five buildings long but it was completely cut off from the rest of the village, save for the alley they had just come through.

The square cul-de-sac had varying different signs hanging off of its buildings, some of them seemed to be of the more illicit kind.

_'Some sort of red light district? For Shinobi by the looks of it.'_

The guess was not made at random as many of the establishment had rather tongue-in-cheek names such as 'The Kage's Rest', a love hotel, 'Anbu Oddments', a shop selling pieces of worn looking anbu gear, 'Katon Cuisine', a restaurant where the chef cooked the food using jutsu and finally, 'The Trusty Kunnai', the bar that the out of place pair had apparently been heading to.

Kamen paused outside of the place to scan its structure and sense who was inside. The outside of the building seemed to be made of some sort of brick, its few windows were blacked out by curtains which prevented anyone from peeking in. He could sense about six or seven people inside, though for some reason the feeling was fuzzy, as if something was preventing him from getting an accurate reading.

"Are you coming Kamen-san ?"

The dark haired time traveller snapped back to reality, his eyes focusing in on the source of the voice. Kakashi... He had invited him to this place and under any other circumstances he might have been overjoyed that his father figure wanted to spend some quality time with him... But Kamen was in the past, Kakashi didn't know him, didn't see him as a son and if anything the son of the white fang was probably imagining many different scenarios in which he was a spy.

"Uh yeah..."

The duo stepped into the bar, again without a single sound, one seemingly accustomed to the place and the other seeing it for the first time.

Despite its outwards ramshackle appearance, the inside of the bar was rather sleek, the dim lights overhead giving it a very exclusive feeling. To the right of the entrance was the bar, its dark rich wooden surface with iron bar stools and a long iron pipe to tie your belt to, were all things you would expect to shine and reflect light, instead they seemed to have been purposefully buffed so as to be as dull as possible.

To the left were several cubicles with comfy looking sofas and sleek marble tables, each cubicle had a partition and a curtain so that the occupants could remain hidden. The fact that two of the curtains were closed, at opposite ends of the room, suggested that the people who came here usually did so for both peace and privacy.

Rather than heading to the private looking cubicles, Kakashi lazily veered off towards the bar, behind which stood a huge hulking man. His head was completely bald save for his dark moustache and eyebrows, both of which curled at the ends, however the comedy of his looks was offset by the large scar which ran from his left ear and ended just above his chin. Otherwise, the man was dressed in a posh looking red and black suit, just as posh and sleek looking as the rest of the bar.

Despite seeming to be completely uninterested by our entrance and instead focused on polishing something, the most trained of shinobi might have been able to make out the most minute tensing of his muscles, unfortunately Kamen was not that good at reading body language, otherwise he might have been a little more on edge.

"Kakashi."

Surprisingly the man's voice was neither loud nor gravely, which was what you would expect of a man of his stature. Instead his voice was low and soft, however that did not mean that it didn't carry weight.

"Kyodai."

The huge man's purple coloured eyes moved from Kakashi to Kamen, his eerie gaze scanning the man from head to toe, not missing a single fold in his clothes.

_'There's no chance this guy is related to Nagato, right?'_

The time traveller was pulled from his humorous thoughts by the man's voice, as he had now turned back to Kakashi.

"Weapons ?"

The short and to the point question was swiftly answered by Kakashi as he pulled off the pouch that had been attached to his right leg and placed it on the counter, swiftly followed by an identical pouch which had been clipped onto his belt at his rear.

The giant's purple gaze seemed to study the two pouches before he nodded, seemingly satisfied, when he had done so Kakashi retrieved the pouches and sat down on one of the slightly precarious bar stools.

"What about you ?"

Kamen was somewhat surprised at the man's question, as he wasn't even looking at him, instead focused once again on polishing the object which was obscured by a white cloth, but Kamen didn't outwardly show it and instead answered honestly; after all, he had reluctantly left his only kunnai at home, not wanting to be caught job scooting with an illegally owned weapon.

"I don't have any."

Instead of relaxing at those words, Kyodai tensed, this time much more visibly, his gaze flickered over to Kamen, seeming to reassess the dark haired man.

"You're either a fool or confident in your abilities."

The words weren't said harshly or even as a threat, instead they were said like a fact, in the same way that you would say 'the sky is blue' or 'the grass is green.'

"Maa Kyodai, there's no need for that, he's with me after all." That didn't seem to ease the burly man's tension, but he didn't look like he was about to sock Kamen in the face, so it was fine. "I'll have the usual Sake... You don't mind sharing do you Kamen ?"

The ex-jinchuriki didn't have much choice, but still nodded lightly as an indication that he didn't mind and took a seat next to Kakashi. Before Kamen had even answered, the bar tender had already wondered off to find whatever Kakashi's usual Sake was and two saucers.

"So Kamen-san, you're new to the village ?"

It seemed like small talk as the pair waited for their drinks, but Kamen could tell already that there was something else underlining Kakashi's words.

"That's right..." The time traveller replied, he had to be careful what he said next, but not too careful as to let on that what he was saying was painstakingly thought out. "I got here a few weeks ago, travelled from the land of claw to here... There was nothing left for me there... Not anymore..."

Kamen's backstory had been meticulously drawn up, just in case this sort of situation arose... In fact he might of unconsciously done it because he hoped this sort of situation would arise... Either way, his time with Jiraya, one of the greatest spy masters of the Elemental Nations, had allowed him to pick up more than a thing or two.

However this was the first time he would be putting the pervy sage's teachings into practise and that was worrisome. After all, there wasn't much room for subterfuge during the Fourth Shinobi War.

_"Now see here kid, the trick to convince someone you are who you say you are, even when you're not, is to nail down some solid facts about your character, add to that a few key phrases that you can improvise around and you're good to go. Thing is, a pro will be able to tell whether or not lying, no matter how prepared you are, so the best thing to do in that case is to associate every piece of your made up character's story with something that triggers an emotional response in you. Say you're pretending to be looking for your favourite pet, try and think back to a time when you had actually lost something you cherished at the exact same time that you tell someone you're looking for your pet."_

_"Ne, Pervy Sage, what does this have to do with cool jutsu?"_

_"Now listen brat not everyth-"_

Kamen shook his head from side to side, trying to forget about the painful memories of his godfather.

"So you picked Konoha mhh ?"

Kamen chuckled lightly, the tone in Kakashi's voice was so conversationally pleasant and yet both men knew that the exchange had much deeper meaning than what was on the surface.

"Well it is the strongest and safest hidden village there is, right ?"

"That's what everybody says."

Before either men could continue, Kyodai reappeared, a bottle and two saucers clutched between his oversized hands. Placing them down rather roughly, he moved off towards the opposite end of the bar so as to give them some limited although appreciated privacy.

Kakashi didn't hesitate to reach for the bottle and poor himself a saucer of sake, almost spilling it by overfilling the receptacle. Without batting an eye the man began drinking through his mask, expecting the man next to him to act surprised in some way or another. What Kakashi hadn't expected was for Kamen to chuckle, poor himself a saucer and begin drinking through his scarf. Both men paused slightly and eye smiled together, the action seeming almost natural.

Of course neither of the men had actually drunk through their face covers, rather they had cast a rather crude genjutsu, if it could even be called that, to maintain the illusion that their scarf and mask were up. It was true that Kamen had no talent for genjutsu, but thanks to his rigorous training he could at least cast the simplest of illusions, even though they wouldn't fool even a novice, they were still of some use.

"You say you come from claw, Kamen-san? And yet not only do you seem very knowledgeable, like a scholar, but at the same time you carry yourself like a veteran shinobi."

Kamen couldn't help but chuckle awkwardly at the praise, he couldn't tell whether Kakashi was being honest or whether he was just trying to pry more information out of him. But at least now he knew, that the elite jonin had been listening in when he was talking to team seven and he didn't seem to care enough to hide the fact.

"A lot of what I learned was from being around Shinobi and from wandering here and there…"

The truth wasn't that different from what he was saying, except the shinobi he had been around had all been of the highest calibre and the most skilled of their trade, if they hadn't been, they would have been already dead. Kamen had also taken to reading books when ever he came across them, there were no restricted access what with there being no leadership to restrict them, though the most sensitive material had mostly been destroyed to avoid it falling into the hands of Madara. It was slightly chilling when Kamen reflected on what he knew, Orochimaru would destroy half the elemental nations for a peak inside his skull, if he knew what it contained that is…

There was a bonus to having chosen to be from the land of claw, which was mainly that its hidden village, Kegawagakure, had been destroyed by Suna during the Third Great Ninja War. That meant that not only could he be as cagey as he wanted about his shinobi knowledge without drawing too much suspicion, but it also meant that most official documents, shinobi registers or anything of the same nature, had gone up in flames.

"And yet you're wise enough to fix my students after having barely met them..."

Kamen laughed slightly louder than was polite, which seemed to shock Kakashi as his single visible eye widened in surprise. It was not the light chuckle nor the short but sweet laugh he had heard from the man until now, instead the laugh was sad and almost cynical.

_'I fixed them? Hardly!'_

"I told them what might just, if they're lucky, set them on the right path to becoming _real_ Shinobi. With how they are now, they won't survive very long."

Kakashi frowned lightly, not liking the tone that Kamen had begun to take, perhaps because it reminded him a little of how he had once been. Though in the silver haired scarecrow's defence, he didn't lose his cool.

"Setting them on the right path… I think you did a little more than that... Well, you're the expert I suppose. However, those things you said about chakra..."

Kakashi titled his head to the side, just enough so that his lone black eye could stare at the man sat next to him, who in response did the same. Night clashed with the twilight hours and a single second seemed to drag on, until the silver haired man continued after his very brief pause.

"That information is something that is _way_ out of the league of a mere wanderer with a few years spent around shinobi."

Trying to deny that rock solid statement would either make him look foolish or suspicious, likely both, so the best thing to do was explain it away and try and re-direct the conversation. With a sigh laced with sadness, both real emotions and fake mixing together, Kamen began his explanation.

"Fine, fine... You got me... It was my father..." Kamen's voice caught in his throat as he thought of Minato, his loving and incredibly smart father... He had been so glad when he got to see him, both in his seal and as a reanimated corpse... But both times had left him feeling emptier than the last, as if he had simply dreamed of something unattainable, "It was my father who taught me most, if not all, of what I know about chakra and the shinobi arts... He never wanted me to be a part of that world, dangerous as it was, and yet the way things turned out... I might as well have been one..."

Kamen paused and when it didn't seem like he was going to continue so Kakashi decided he would have to urge him on a bit.

"What happened?"

"I was..." Memories of the Fourth Great Ninja War, the suffering and destruction, the physical and mental torture he had been through came flooding back, "When they ran out of genin to send into the fray, during the Third Great Ninja War, they started drafting civilians -men, women, children- who ever they could get their hands on... We were completely outclassed by Suna... It was little more than a massacre."

A flash of comprehension danced across Kakashi's face, finally seeming to understand the man's strange attitude.

"I heard about that... It was when Sunagakure was desperate, running low on supplies from the conflict with Iwagakure... They attacked pretty much every bordering country not just the Land of Claws... But the Land of Claws had the most strategic resources, which meant it was the main target..."

Kamen scoffed lightly, to which Kakashi brought a piercing gaze upon him, he was playing his role to perfection, he didn't know what had turned him into such a convincing liar, but he didn't really care.

"We had nothing to do with their conflict, our village had maintained steady trade with many different territories in the Land of Wind, Suna included... But they decided that they would rather have everything for free and we were hardly in a position to stop them... The amount of people who died, and for what? A bit of iron and water? I suppose in the end our lives are worth barely that... Death is the only thing that comes from being a Shinobi, we bring death and in turn death is brought upon us..."

Kakashi's gaze faltered, the dark look on Kamen's face was enough to depress a monk... Letting his hair shadow his face, Kakashi looked down at his saucer, swirling around the transparent liquid it contained.

"I don't think death is the only thing to come out of being a shinobi."

Kamen's sombre, almost black eyes, moved from looking at his saucer to Kakashi, who was suddenly fully turned towards him, one elbow resting on the bar's counter top.

"The kinds of stories about Shinobi, where the hero never gives up and overcomes all odds to be victorious, they're all a bunch of bullshit. They're there to convince the young and naive to throw themselves to their deaths for the greater good."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow at the words, they seemed aimed at someone in particular and they definitely reminded him of his young blonde student, but the two having just met, he doubted that was who he meant.

"Ma, there's no need to be so morbid Kamen-san. I started the wrong conversation it would seem. We're supposed to be having a friendly cup of sake!"

Kamen smiled a delicate and sad smile, he knew Kakashi meant that. The man probably hadn't wanted to have this conversation, at least not in the way that they had, but his sense of duty had driven him to do so.

The pair turned back to their drinks, sipping them slowly in silence, though unlike all the other silences that Kamen had been a part of during his return to the past, this was one he did not mind. It was neither awkward nor lonely, this silence was the kind that only occurred between two people who felt mutual respect for each other and who shared a common experience... This was the kind of silence that blossomed between two war veterans.

Kakashi couldn't help but think that it was strange... He felt something towards the man before him, a sort of kinship that went deeper than just fellow war veterans... He had never felt this towards anyone other than Minato, and even then it was still _different_... But it was nice. Kakashi had friends, but most of them barely understood what he had been through... Losing his father, his team-mates... The things he had seen... But this man, sat next to him in this bar, right at this moment, without even saying so, understood... And yet they had only just met...

Something moving slightly caught Kakashi's attention, only half noticing that it was Kamen's head bobbing slightly, his eyes shadowed by his dark scruffy hair.

"Kamen-san?"

Reaching over the silver haired jonin placed a hand on his drinking partner's shoulder, only for the man to fall forwards, his head slamming against the counter with a 'thunk'... He had passed out... Kakashi blinked a couple of times registering what had happened and then laughed.

"Well," Kakashi began, a soft smile gracing his concealed lips, "it would seem our friend here is a lightweight."

Kyodai turned to look towards the pair and couldn't hold back the uncharacteristic smile that graced his lips. Moving over to take the bottle and saucers away, he couldn't help but notice that the passed out man had barely even finished his saucer.

"Maybe, or perhaps your choice of Sake is the thing to blame, Kakashi."

The silver haired man huffed playfully before getting off of his seat and walking over to sleeping beauty, currently almost drowning in a pool of his own drool.

Grabbing the man's wrist and slinging his arm over his shoulder he was careful to gently guide the man off of his chair. However as his quarry's feet connected with the floor he realised just how heavy he was, more than just that, he weighed enough to almost make Kakashi stumble.

Kyodai raised an eyebrow, unsure whether his silver haired patron was messing around or whether he was actually having difficulty lifting the light drinker, after all the guy looked as though he hadn't been eating properly.

"Having trouble Kakashi ?"

Kakashi flashed a look at the bartender before a sweatdrop ran down his face and he put on an awkward smile.

"Hey, just cause he's a lightweight doesn't actually mean he's light."

Kakashi stumbled towards the doorway, tempted to reinforce his muscles with chakra just to carry the man. How could he be so heavy? It didn't make sense, his physique was borderline anorexic! The only time he had had as much trouble carrying someone was when he had been dragging Gai home after a bit of heavy drinking and that was only because of all his... Training weights?

Reaching a hand up to Kamen's bicep, he poked it with trepidation and sure enough he could feel something other than skin or clothing resist his touch. He must have been using some ridiculously complicated seals, there was no way in hell that small layer of metal was enough to weigh him down this much, even if he had one on his chest and each of his limbs...

Kakashi shook his head from side to side, this guy walked around without a care in the world with this kind of weight weighing him down? Gai might just have a heart attack of pure joy! But it was strange, training weights, especially this complex were for taijutsu specialists, and yet Kamen professed to be a simple civilian drafted soldier?  
The more the silver haired ex-anbu learnt about Kamen, the more questions he had... He supposed it was some sort of Karma.

Kakashi struggle to drag the man back out into the more open streets, even after having given up half way through and started using chakra to reinforce his muscles. When he finally did get out of the maze like alleyway, he only had one question in his mind. Where did Kamen live?

He said he had only just arrived so he must have had some sort of visa on him, probably with his address on it.

The copy cat deftly slid his hand into one of Kamen's pockets, glad that the first one he had picked did indeed contain an old leather wallet. Luckily for him, Kamen had taken every precaution not to be caught, otherwise the silver haired man may have stumbled upon a battered and patched old frog wallet instead, which might not have raised any alarm bells yet, but definitely would have in the future.

Flipping the leather wallet open, with both hands occupied, Kakashi failed to catch the little red booklet which fell out as he did so, bouncing off of the floor a couple of times before coming to a halt.

Bending down awkwardly in an attempt to not drop his drinking partner, he managed to snatch the little booklet up and then straighten himself out. It was a standard issue visa, one that was issued by the person's village of origin and gave access to allied or neutral territories, this kind even allowed the bearer to settle down if he or she so wanted

There were several kinds of visas, residential, work, trading, travelling and combinations between the four. The ones for Shinobi were distinctly different than those for civilians in that one was green, for shinobi and the other red, for civilians. All of this in the name of heightened security, the tensions from the last war hadn't yet appeared altogether.

Kakashi's fingers flashed through the pages, taking note of several things. Kamen hadn't lied when he had said that he had been around, there were a few hidden village stamps, but mainly border stamps such as for the land of fang, water, wind, rivers and fire.

"Aha... Mhh... Oh? It would seem you live right next to one of my cute little students. Well at least that means I know where I'm going."

He hadn't expected to get a response from the dead weight he had on his shoulder, and the one he did get was just gargled noise mixed with snoring, something which Kakashi found quite humorous.

The world turns, almost as if it always has and always will, there is always a beginning and an end, but the ever flowing sands of time seem to make us forget that, as it seems to stretch on infinitely.

However inside Kamen's mind, at that precise instant, the world froze.

_Midnight blue eyes slowly fluttered open, greeted only by an endless void that seemed to engulf the tiny sparks of light that remained within them. But despite the futility, despite the overwhelming odds and never ending darkness, despite all this, that tiny flickering light, that tiny flame refused to give in, it clung to life like a lone stalwart soldier facing an army._

_A deep and twisted chuckle echoed out within the darkness, its point of origin being Kamen, no... Naruto's lips._

_"Why ?"_

_The blonde man's breath seemed to disappear, absorbed into the void, almost as soon as he spoke and yet at the same time his words bounced around endlessly._

_"What's the point anymore? It's like reading a book that I already know the ending to and it's definitely not ending with a 'happily ever after'..."_

_He waited for a few seconds which felt more like a few hours... It wasn't like he was expecting an answer, because he knew there wasn't one. There was no reason for what he was doing._

_"But was there a reason before ?" His voice chilled his own blood as it came out, no longer even sounding like his own, "Protecting my precious people? Bah, In the end I couldn't even protect myself... Perhaps... Perhaps if I hadn't been born I wouldn't have had to suffer like this... Maybe if I had just stopped and done nothing when Mizuki tried to kill me, when Zabuza had... Maybe if I had just let the kyuubi out when it was still intent on taking over my body... Maybe then I could have been at peace."_

_His words echoed back at him in the void, sounding ever so tempting, but at the same time sounding selfish, bitter and wrong. Frustration welled within his heart as tears pricked at his eyes, threatening to spill out._

_"Even if I wanted to do something, even if I still had something to fight for... I wouldn't be able to change it! If I were to save this world, if I were to defeat Madara and save all of my friends, what then? Why would the other me go back in time? Even if he did he wouldn't be as strong as I am, or as prepared! I wouldn't have saved the world, because I wouldn't have been sent back and then? That would mean I would be sent back! Again and again and again... Endlessly for ever! I don't want that!"_

_The tears begun to flow freely from his eyes, frustrated and hot as they were. It had been a long time since he had properly cried, even if it was in but a dream._

_"T-time travel... It shouldn't ever be done... I want it to end with me... The risks? They don't give any rewards."_


	5. Chapter 5- First Day Of Preparation

**Chapter 5- The First Day Of Preparation**

* * *

"La mémoire du passé

n'est pas faite pour se souvenir du passé,

elle est faite pour prévenir le futur.

La mémoire est un instrument de prédiction"

-ALAIN BERTHOZ

Translation:

"The memories of the past

are not there to remember the past,

they are there to prevent the future.

Our memories are instruments of prediction."

* * *

The sound of something made of glass chinking against metal exploded within the complete silence of Kamen's apartment. As if he had been hit with a raiton jutsu, Kamen's form shot out of his bed sheets, kunnai in hand without making a single sound.

His midnight blue eyes flashed across his familiar surroundings, his slightly hung over mind processing things at an annoyingly slow rate compared to usual. However that did not mean he didn't notice the several key signs that someone other than him had been in his room. The carpet, which he always walked over in the same places had noticeable drag marks on its surface, along with traces of dirt and bits of leaf. The clothes that he always set out on his dresser before going to sleep were not there, which made sense as he vaguely remembered passing out, however one of the drawer's knobs, which he had purposefully unscrewed slightly, had been screwed back into place by someone's curious hands. The most noticeable thing however was that the tripwire hooked up to a kunnai launcher, one which he stepped over every morning and every night, had been snapped and a tiny splash of blood stained the door frame. The door belonging to said door frame being slightly ajar.

Moving cautiously and quietly despite his pounding headache, he silently opened the well oiled door of his bedroom, slinking stealthily into the kitchenette. To his shock and mild amusement, the first thing that his eyes caught sight of was Kakashi, Metal forehead protector resting carelessly on a bottle of sake, the latter not being the only one of its kind. The man was slumped over the room's small square dining table, what was either a bit of spilled sake or drool staining a small part of the oak table's surface.

"Just how much did you drink Kakashi?" Whispering to himself while quietly moving over to the table, he shadowed his sensei and gazed fondly at the man's resting figure, "Since when did you drink as much as Tsunade, eh?"

Kamen couldn't decide whether, when he was young he had never seen this side of Kakashi or if his arrival in this world had distorted and changed reality already. He settled on the first answer, still concretely believing that nothing could be changed. His mind flashed back to his dream, that dark void that haunted his nights... It had gotten to a point that he had tried not to sleep, just so that he wouldn't have to go back to that void... But soldier pills and chakra stimulation couldn't keep a person awake forever. One second, one momentary laps in attention, a slight flicker of his eyes and he was back in that damned void.

His thoughts were distracted by the pain that flourished in between and in his ears, as Kakashi moved his head slightly, scraping his forehead protector against the empty sake bottle's surface. He couldn't remember a time his brain had hurt so much from a hang over, in fact he couldn't remember a time he had had a hang over.

_'Right... No more fuzzball filtering out the toxins for me... I miss being able to guzzle that stuff down like fizzy drink...'_

Only now did Kamen notice how dry his throat was, stumbling slightly towards the sink to drink something. He had barely lost his concentration for a second, enough to make only the slightest of sounds, and yet just that had set Kakashi off, his form stirring with a slight groan.

"I'm lucky I don't buy alcohol, otherwise you'd have probably drunk all of it."

Kakashi's groan grew slightly louder as the silver haired man sat up in his seat. Rather than focus on the debilitatingly hung over jonin, Kamen focused on pulling two glasses out of one of his cupboards along with two small silver sachets. Twisting the tap with a louder than was comfortable metallic screech, water began running into one of the glasses.

Kamen flashed another look backwards trying to determine exactly how many bottles of Sake Kakashi had tried to drown his sorrows in. He counted up to five before he had to turn back to his glasses, making sure not to spill the water out of them. His mission accomplished he padded his way towards the jonin, not having missed the bandage that was wrapped around his left bicep. He set one of the glasses, along with the small packet of painkiller, down in front of the silver haired teacher, following up by moving to the other side of the table and sitting down.

"Sorry about the kunnai trap, I gave you something a little stronger than just hangover medication to help with the pain."

The usually immaculate man was a walking disaster, his clothes crumpled, his hair greasy and messy, his eyes droopier and lazier than usual. Kamen could barely hold back his laughter. However despite this, the ex-anbu's eye smile didn't have anything less than its usual vigour.

"Maa, it was my fault. I should have been expecting it, if I hadn't already drunk three quarters of a bottle of the strongest sake around I probably would have dodged it."

Kamen didn't doubt that, but rather than voicing his trust in Kakashi's skills he settled for a light nod as he poured the white medicinal powder into his glass, the sound of the product sizzling reassuringly reaching his ears. Kakashi did the same, but rather than down the whole disgusting mix in one fell swoop like Kamen had, he simply stared at the substance. At the blue eyed man's questioning gaze, Kakashi spoke.

"Mou, maybe I can stay like this a little bit longer, that way I can see the frustration on my cute Genin's faces when I arrive late."

"Or you can make this one of the days you get there early. Besides, you need to prepare them for the chunin exams... The way they are now..."

Kakashi didn't miss the dark look in the man's eyes, though it lacked any sort of ill intent.

"Ah... They told you about that did they ?"

"They were happy to be able to complain about you to an adult."

"Mhh... Most people I'm around on a daily basis are used to it by now."

Kamen couldn't help but laugh, he could very well imagine how most people Kakashi knew had already given up trying to make the man arrive to things on time.

"Seems your students won't be for a long time..."

"Speaking of which you didn't seem very affected by my attitude... Most normal people would think I was neglecting them."

Kamen took this chance to stand up and rinse his glass out so that he could drink some more water.

"Every ninja has their hobby or their quirks... The stronger the shinobi the more dominant they are... Ordinary people assume that they've been driven mad... In truth it's the only reason strong shinobi don't go mad- At least that's what I think."

Kakashi hm-ed slightly, as he himself downed the horrid concoction meant to make him feel better, almost gagging at its taste. Shaking his head from side to side and instantly regretting it, Kakashi threw a glance over his shoulder at Kamen as he filled his glass up.

" You call them 'Quirks', ne? I like that word... It's better than 'Alcoholism', 'Tardiness' and 'lack of respect'... "

Kamen turned around to fully face the man, his arm raising his glass of water up towards his face before stopping just below his chin. A frown graced the man's slightly pale skin, an indication that he didn't go out much and that he hadn't been eating properly, then again it may have also been because he felt like retching his guts up.

"You know Kakashi, you might want to work on those, when the next war comes you'll need to be in peek condition."

Kakashi's eyebrow raised almost instantly as he shifted his position to better look at the only other man in the room. When he did, there was a slight sharpness to his keen black eyes, one that hadn't been there just a few seconds before. There were several things very wrong with that phrase that he could have just passed off as being due to the black haired man's hangover, but...

"No -san ? Well not that I mind. Makes me sound old and I've already got the white hair doing that for me."

Kamen had said 'when the next war comes', not 'if'... Now Kakashi had seen a lot of cynical people in his time, but outright saying there was going to be another war, and in his lifetime, with such certitude... It was off-putting to say the least...

Kakashi might have been distracted by his own thoughts, but not so much as to not notice the flash of pure black which danced across Kamen's eyes.

It wasn't strange that he had forgotten to use -san, in fact given the circumstances - in his own home with a hangover - it was perfectly acceptable, but it seemed as though Kamen felt he had committed a grave error.

But Kakashi understood him, if only a bit. He didn't want to get attached, didn't want his roots to sink into the ground because he knew, rather he believed he knew, that they would just be thoughtlessly and ruthlessly torn up.

He had been forced to leave his home because of the Third Great Ninja War, that was the only thing Kakashi knew for certain. Well, that and that Kamen had travelled a lot in between leaving his motherland and arriving in Konoha. So it was understandable that he didn't want to settle down, in fact he had probably grown used to travelling around and never stopping in one place for very long.

"Anyway... I think perhaps I'll take your advice, maybe shunshin behind Sasuke-kun and make him jump out of his skin, make a chip in that pristine mask of his."

Kakashi got up from his seat, straightening his clothes out and running a hand though his hair to form it into some semblance of a style. His feet began carrying him towards the door before he paused, throwing a discreet glance back at Kamen, who was currently staring at the ground, his bushy black hair obscuring his eyes. And then, Kakashi said something he hadn't meant to, as words seemed to slip out from in between his lips without him wanting them to.

"Would you like to come with me?"

Kamen's head shot up, his eyes as round as saucers as he stared back at the man before him, completely unbelieving of what he had just heard. Kakashi hesitated slightly before fully turning towards the other masked man in the flat.

" I... Uh..." Scratching at the back of his neck awkwardly and trying to form his jumbled words into a cohesive phrase, he finally spoke, "What I mean is, that I'm sure the kids would like to see you again... And... Truth be told I feel a little out of my depth looking after these kids… You seem knowledgeable too… You know?"

The tiny flicker, hidden within Kamen's midnight blue eyes came to the surface for a mere second before sinking back into nothingness.

"Sorry... Maybe another time..."

Saying Kakashi was crestfallen would be a bit much, but at the very least he seemed disappointed and surprisingly rather than giving up, he insisted.

"Maa, don't be like that, it would do you some good..." When the dark haired man didn't respond Kakashi took a step forwards, his voice becoming slightly more desperate, "Listen, don't shut yourself away like this, I know what it's like, but doing what you're doing right now won't make anything change..."

"Going outside won't make anything change either..."

That was more than mere pessimism, just what had this seemingly young man lived through to make him like this? Kakashi could just about imagine it, but he didn't really want to. It didn't matter, did it? Kakashi didn't know this man, he was a complete stranger. For all he knew he was an enemy and yet... And yet something made him want to reach out and help... Like a niggling itch that wouldn't go away... As if it were the right thing to do... Because it was.

"Nothing is unchangeable. Even the slightest action can make things differ completely from what might have happened. As long as you go outside and do something, possibilities for change will arise. Have you never thought 'what might have happened if I had gone left instead of right', isn't that decision to go either way already a form of change? If you go out, something might happen, you might discover something that'll change your life. But there is one thing I can tell you for certain, if you stay here forever, nothing will ever change."

Kamen looked into Kakashi's eye and could see the flame in it, a blazing inferno in comparison to the flicker within his own. _The will of fire..._ The old man, the third Hokage, had always gone on about it... The will to fight and protect, to live and to die. It was all about what you believed in... _If_ you could believe in something then there would always be hope, and right now Kamen believed in nothing more than the man who had, in another time, been his most beloved sensei. Kamen wasn't exactly cured of his dark thoughts, such a thing would be impossible with mere words, but the flicker of light in his eyes seemed to be more prominent, more alive. All he needed was the slightest push in the right direction.

"Now come on, or I'll get my hyperactive blond little genin to drag you out of here. He lives right next door, as it would happen."

Kamen's foot moved on its own, but as soon as the first step came down, others quickly followed. Before he knew it he was locking his door behind him as Kakashi stretched and squinted at the sun's morning rays, the slight humidity from yesterday's rain still hanging in the air.

Kakashi still couldn't help but think that it might be a bad idea, having an unknown interact with the jinchuriki of the kyuubi... After all, it couldn't be mere coincidence that he ended up living next to the boy and then started interacting with his team, right? And it seemed like Kakashi wasn't the only one who was slightly on edge as he could feel the extra Anbu guards' presence.

"Mou, Kamen-san, why is it that you live in this place anyway ?"

Kamen spun around lazily, placing the key in one of his cargo pants' pockets.

"Cheapest place around. Not sure why but it's only a thousand ryo a month and I'm dirt poor."

Kakashi could tell the man wasn't lying, but he hadn't expressly stated that he wasn't there because of Naruto... Though if the man had done anything suspicious at all, the Anbu would have reacted by now.

Just as Kamen and Kakashi were about to walk down the concrete steps of the apartment block's walkway, the sound of a door unlocking resounded from behind them. Both men turned to see one Naruto Uzumaki, bright orange jumpsuit, sand in his eyes, a wide yawn gracing his features and a sleeping cap on his head.

"Naruto-kun you might want to leave that at home, it's not really a fitting look for a chunin-in-training."

Said blond child let out a slightly high pitched surprised yelp at the familiar and unexpected voice.

"Kakashi-sensei?! What are you doing here?"

Without batting an eyelid, the blond boy ripped the sleeping cap from his scalp and tossed it back into his apartment, slamming the door shut and locking it as if nothing had ever happened.

"And Kamen-san as well? What are you both doing here?"

Kakashi eye smiled mischievously as a wicked smirk graced his concealed lips.

"Maa, it's nothing a kid like you should know about."

A thousand and one thoughts swam though Naruto's head at those words, from secret missions to cult reunions, he was still a child after all and it was his imagination that made him as dangerous a fighter as he was. Ironically, not even a trace of the thoughts Kakashi had attempted to elicit from young Naruto were present within his mind.

"First off, creepy. Secondly, you're lucky he's as dense as he is, I do not want that sort of rumour circulating." Turning his slightly amused, slightly peeved gaze from Kakashi to Naruto, Kamen continued. "Kakashi, light weight as he is, got himself drunk and crashed at my place."

Kakashi grumbled slightly before whispering, _"Says the guy who passed out after a single saucer..."_

Naruto puffed out his cheeks at being called dense, he knew it was some sort of insult but he couldn't quite remember what it meant. Before completely forgetting the jab at his intellect in favour of happily tugging at Kamen's sleeve.

"Ne, So does that mean you live next to me? Landlady-obaasan said that someone new had moved in, so that must mean you do right? Oh, and, and does that mean you're going to be teaching us again Oh great and wise Kamen-sensei? Oh and-"

Kamen was bombarded with questions by the hyperactive young boy as the trio gradually made their way towards the third training ground, he would answer when he could, but he was sorely lacking in energy to deal with his younger self at the moment. Not that Kakashi was any help, more intent on chuckling and being glad that for once he wasn't the target of the bond's limitless energy.

It was around six in the morning when Kakashi, Kamen and Naruto made it to training ground three. The bridge separating it from the village had two people stood on it, one Sasuke Uchiha and one Sakura Haruno. The prior doing his best to ignore the latter while blinking sleep out of his eyes.

There was something definitely off about Sasuke's personality, and Kakashi's as well now that Kamen had a clearer mind to think about it. But so what if Sasuke was a little less emo than in his timeline, and so what if Kakashi was a little more emo? Nothing was going to change... _At least not if you don't do anything_, a small part of him thought.

"Good morning Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan."

It wasn't Kakashi's voice that pulled the time traveller from his thoughts but rather the sound of a kunnai whistling through the air straight at said man.

"The jig's up, you're not even half an hour late! Where's the real Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi lowered his right hand with the weapon belonging to Sakura, which was inches away from piercing his skull, caught between his gloved fingers. A slight pout stuck out from under his mask as he turned to look down at the student closest to him.

"Mou, I'm not that bad am I Naruto-kun? Sakura-chan seems to think so..."

Naruto squinted up at his sensei and placed a hand under his chin as if he were trying to solve the world's most complicated puzzle.

"If I couldn't tell you were Kakashi-sensei because of your smell then I'd probably react the same way."

"Hn, you a dog as well as a dobe now ?"

Naruto turned towards the raven haired genin, a slightly miffed look crossing his face.

"Hey!"

"Wait what do you mean by that ?"

As everyone rounded on Kamen because of his question, it didn't take a genius to tell he was confused. The man looked about as confused as a dog looking for the stick his owner hadn't thrown, something Kakashi seemed to take note of.

"Ah of course you wouldn't know Kamen, but Naruto-kun here has got a very developed sense of smell, as long as there are no other strong smells or crowds he's almost as good at tracking as me."

"That's im- impressive."

Impossible. It was completely and utterly impossible... Even if people had changed a bit compared to his time line or at the very least had seemed to change, his own past self having a sensorial difference was impossible. If his younger self had a keen sense of smell then that meant he should have had one as well, right? But he didn't, not without applying chakra anyway... It must have been the work of the nine tailed fox... But again, that didn't explain why he didn't have it... If time worked the way he thought it did - and he knew it was, he was almost certain he had learnt about it somewhere, possibly from Jiraya - then this was an impossibility. He felt a migraine coming, and this one was not alcohol induced.

Naruto thumbed his nose and puffed out his chest in pride, a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Anyway, never mind Naruto-baka's sense of smell, if you really are Kakashi sensei than can we start training?"

Kakashi's eyebrow raised at the pink haired girl's enthusiasm, usually it was one of the other two members of team seven asking to be trained.

"Ma, ma... Patience is a virtue, often in a woman, never in a man and all that."

As Kakashi walked passed his team into the third training ground's clearing, the four other people following behind him all had a single thought cross their minds.

_'That isn't even close to the actual quote...'_

"Now then," The silver haired scarecrow began as he stopped in the middle of the clearing, "I was thinking today you might continue you chakra control exercises!"

The eye smile that was gracing his eyelid as all three genin groaned in annoyance was dazzling. However, Kamen didn't skip a beat as he realised what the white haired man was doing. Either it was to ascertain his trust worthiness or it could also have been just because Kakashi couldn't be bothered to do his job, but no matter the reason, he was obviously trying to get Kamen to step in.

"I don't mean to be rude," And so Kamen did step in, too tempted by the figurative dangling piece of meat, "but are you sure that's the best thing for them to start with?"

Kakashi loosened his eye smile and turned from his team to the man who was stood a few paces behind them, keeping a safe distance.

"Mou, you already showed me up yesterday _Kamen~sensei_, do you have to do it again?"

Though it was clear that his voice was laced with sarcasm, Kamen still took it as a cue to continue.

"Well, it's just that in two weeks they'll be taking the chunin exams, right? If that's the case then they'll be judged on the qualities of a chunin... Meaning having good chakra control is pointless, am I wrong?"

Kakashi perked up fully again, clapping lazily and then suddenly pulling out a little scoring stick with '10' painted onto it.

"Full points Kamen-sensei!"

"Hey!" Naruto interrupted, arm pointing accusingly at the white haired jonin, who responded with an obviously fake oblivious look, "Don't try and make it as if you were planning to do that all along Kakashi-not-a-real-sensei!"

At that Kakashi began crying fake tears, falling on all fours as a black depressed miasma seemed to surround him.

_"My cute little genin don't love me anymore, a new and cooler version of me has shown up and I've been tossed on the trash heap! Woe is me!"_

Kamen sweatdropped as Naruto tried to reconcile the man, worried that he might have actually struck a nerve. Rather than focus on the pity party that was going on in the shade of some of the outlying trees, Kamen turned to look at Sakura and Sasuke, who were both looking at him with expectant eyes.

_'Is this gonna become a thing? I really hope not.'_

"Well... I'm not really sure what to say..."

Kamen awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, doing his best to avoid the expectant stares of his 'students'.

"Well last time you only gave us hints at the light kind of exercises that we could do, but isn't there anything more ninja related that you can teach us, like you said we'll be needing the qualities of a chunin if we even hope to pass the chunin exams right?"

Kamen blinked slightly, Sakura was definitely more enthusiastic about learning something 'ninja related', as she put it, than he had ever seen. Meanwhile Sasuke was doing his best to try and seem uninterested and failing miserably.

"Well leadership skills and teamwork can't really be taught. They are something which build over time, based on mutual trust and respect... However just because they can't be taught, does not mean that they can't be encourage to flourish. Therefore I propose we have a round of spars."

It was now Sasuke and Sakura's turn to blink slightly. Sparring wasn't something they did very often -especially not between each other- and neither of the two could see how pummelling each other into the ground was going to help them become close team-mates.

"I... I don't think I can really measure up to Sasuke-kun..."

"Hn, she's right, with my sharingan and jutsu-"

A wicked smile crossed Kamen's lips, though hidden under his scarf and mask, neither of the two children in front of him missed the slight shift of the fabric nor the crinkling of his eyes.

"Then we'll set out a few rules, no using chakra can be the first, ne? All though in order of importance 'no lethal strikes' is probably at the top. No jutsu and no sharingan. Taijutsu, shuriken, ninja wire, kunnai, all the rest is open for use. Ah and when I mean no using chakra, I mean no using chakra."

At that Kamen pulled out two sealing tags and in the blink of an eye was behind his two students, lifting their shirts and plopping the tags onto their backs.

It was to the sight of Sakura and Sasuke looking as groggy as if they had just woken up from a ten year nap, that Kakashi and Naruto returned to. The silver haired jonin was slightly on guard, taking note of his students' abnormally small chakra signatures.

"What did you do?"

Kamen shrugged off the man's slightly cold gaze, the worry in his eyes rather understandable.

"I applied some chakra seals to them so that they could spar without using chakra."

"Hn, I don't see the point."

A look of comprehension flashed across Kakashi's eyes as he relaxed and observed the strange dark haired man at work.

"It's simple really. Having your chakra sealed has three uses; one, it means the both of you are on completely equal footing for the spar. Two, it'll get you used to the feeling of not having access to your chakra, which can happen on missions rather easily. And finally but most importantly, shinobi, unlike civilians have chakra constantly reinforcing their muscles and organs, meaning they become dependant on it, this is why chakra exhaustion can be lethal for shinobi. Having your muscles and organs function with as little chakra as possible slowly gets rid of that dependence and means that, even when your chakra is almost completely exhausted, you can still fight, something which can again be crucial on a mission."

Naruto seemed completely confused but at the same time desperately seemed as though he wanted to understand.

"So basically... Chakra for shinobi is like air for lizards? And so we can slowly train to become fish, who don't need a lot of air? Right?"

Kamen blinked a couple of times at the twisted logic before chuckling loudly and walking over to ruffle Naruto's hair, who simply pouted in response.

"Well you're not right but you're not wrong. That is kind of what we're going to be doing."

Swatting the older man's hand away, Naruto's eyes lit up.

"So cool! Can I do that too?"

A grim look crossed Kakashi's face, he was at arms length from the pair, he really didn't want Kamen to agree... If he did then there was a risk that limiting Naruto's chakra might give the kyuubi more influence over the boy than was safe. There was also the risk of Kamen's seal interfering with the seal on the blonde brat's stomach.

"Of course, but first let's have Sasuke and Sakura spar, you can wait by meditating."

The slightly sadistic smile that was obviously stretching his concealed lips would have been off putting if anyone could see it. Perhaps it was because he had been through the same torturous kind of thing, like when Fugaku had forced him to meditate while the old toad was eating some the delicious food that he had had one of the toads fetch from Konoha. Mount Myoboku only had grubs and insects to offer, so seeing the only ordinary food he would have been able to eat for a few months get eaten by someone else, and not being able to do a damn thing about it else he would have turned to stone, had been true torture.

It didn't take long for Sasuke and Sakura to prepare themselves, having recovered from the abnormal feeling of not being able to control or feel their chakra. They faced each other down, one with cool confidence and the other with nervousness.

"Now remember, no lethal blow, everything else goes. You are not allowed to leave the clearing, if you do, you lose. The winner is the one who can securely hold a kunnai to the other's neck for ten seconds or force the other out of the clearing. Ready?" Two nods was all he got, leaping back from between the two, he took in a sharp breath as he stood next to Kakashi and Naruto, both of whom were being abnormally quiet, "Hajime!"

Neither fighter moved to begin with, their eyes flashing over each other, waiting for the slightest of movements. Unsurprisingly Sasuke was the first to make a move, pulling out a kunnai and flicking it straight at his pink haired team-mate. The blade cut through the air but with chakra no longer being fed to his muscles and being unable to reinforce the throw, Sakura easily dodged out of the way.

Unhindered by his failure Sasuke sped towards his opponent as fast as he could, intent on pushing her back to the edge of the clearing with taijutsu. Surprisingly however, Sakura rushed towards him as well, with a decent amount of speed to her movement. Taken aback by his pink team-mate's speed and still trying to get used to the feeling of having his chakra sealed away, Sasuke stumbled slightly, not enough for it to effect the battle, but enough for Kamen and Kakashi to spot it with ease.

"You know Kamen, you're quite talented at dealing blows to people's pride... Right where it hurts too."

Naruto looked up away from the fight to his sensei, a curious look on his face.

"Waddaya mean sensei?"

"He means that Sasuke is going to lose."

Despite having been cheering Sakura on, Naruto hadn't been expecting that, in fact he was already formulating a plan to win her affections by comforting her after her loss.

"But Sasuke-teme is super strong!"

Wincing at realising what he had just said and slamming both hands over his mouth, he threw a glance back to the fight in time to see both his team-mates cross kunnai blades and then leap back, pausing to take in their situation.

"Even you have to admit that, ne? While it is true that Sasuke is likely ordinarily stronger than Sakura, she has been training and living her whole life with small chakra reserves, whereas Sasuke has trained and lived quite easily with much larger reserves. Do you get it yet?"

Naruto shook his head in confusion, perhaps it had been a bit much to expect the blonde boy to understand, he had always been a bit on the blunt side when it came to intellect, though that would change in time.

"It means that Sakura is used to not having a strong and consistent flow of chakra to her organs and muscles. It also means that when she was training, even if she didn't take weight training seriously, her muscles were working harder than Sasuke's because of the lack of overflowing chakra reserves. Basically, the difference between those two is the same one between a person who trained their whole life using light training weights and someone who hasn't."

Naruto seemed to have a flash of understanding before suddenly turning back to the fight as Sasuke and Sakura came to blows with a shout.

So far neither of them had landed a solid hit and though that greatly frustrated Sasuke, Sakura seemed abnormally calm about the situation. The raven haired boy had found it strange that she had accepted to spar at all, it would have been much more like her to squeal and go "Hit Sasuke-kun, No way!" or something like that... But apparently the few words Kamen had given her yesterday must have motivated her in peculiar ways.

The raven haired boy slid his kunnai blade along his pink haired team-mate's in order to knock the instrument out of her grasp, while attempting to throw a jab with his other hand at her stomach, but to his great surprise, not only did she retract her blade, causing a bright angry red mark to slide its way along her arm hence keeping her blade firmly in her grip, but she also grabbed his jab, tugging on it and knocking the raven haired Uchiha off balance.

Intent on letting her black haired love interest slam into her fist, she released the grip she had on his wrist and then crumpled her hand into a fist. It was her turn to be surprised however, as Sasuke kicked into the ground slightly, spinning to avoid her punch and using the momentum to slam a kick into the back of her head. Reacting in time, the cherry blossom crouched down and leapt back slightly, letting Sasuke land on his feet.

Sasuke began straightening himself up as he focused in on his opponent, he felt strangely winded and the fact that his opponent barely even seemed out of breath rubbed him the wrong way, so much so that he was about to try and channel chakra to his eyes and activate his Sharingan, but just as he was thinking about doing it a voice ripped trough the air like an arrow, a calm and low tone, yet also with a hint of danger.

"I wouldn't if I were you, the small amount of chakra left unsealed by that tag is only there to support vital functions, if you use it, I can't guaranty that you won't just drop dead."

Sakura watched as Sasuke seemed to curse under his breath, preparing to rush towards her for another attack, so she took the initiative and launched herself towards him, tossing the kunnai she had in her hand at the last loyal Uchiha to keep him in place. The kunnai gained her enough time to get up close and personal with her opponent before he could recover from his dodge. She placed one palm on the ground and pushed, aiming a wild kick at Sasuke's chin.

Not willing to take such a vicious and possibly debilitating blow, Sasuke loosened his body up and let gravity take him backwards as he stumbled out of the way of his pink haired team-mate's kick. Taking this chance to try and strike downwards at his opponent, he lashed out with a fist, though having not recovered from his haphazard dodge, the blow only just grazed her ribs.

Sakura quickly recovered from her risky kick, holding her ground as Sasuke retreated slightly and tried to slow his ragged breathing. It seemed as though fighting without chakra was exhausting for him. Not willing to let the fight drag on any longer, Sakura made a 'come at me' motion with her hand, knowing that Sasuke's pride would take the bait.

As Sasuke leapt forwards, Sakura leapt back forming half of a ram hand seal. Just as Sasuke passed over a slightly disturbed piece of grass, he caught sight of something white, red and black hidden among the blades of grass. An explosive tag.

The explosion wasn't big enough to rock the clearing, but there was just enough force from it to knock Sasuke flat onto the ground. His ears ringing, vision blurry and his heart pumping he cracked an eye open just in time to see Sakura reaching towards him.

The pink haired girl grabbed Sasuke by the collar of his shirt and tensed her muscles. Slamming her feet firmly into the ground she lifted her team-mate and threw him towards the tree line, which thanks to the movement of battle wasn't that far away.

Sasuke, recovered mid air and upon landing prepared to dive back into battle, however his motivation to continue was cut off by Kamen's voice once again.

"Matte, Sasuke, you've lost."

It took the raven haired Uchiha a few seconds to register the words and his surroundings. He only now noticed the shadow cast over him by the trees' canopy. Knowing that the fight was over made all of his tense and tired muscles relax as he fell to the ground, but knowing that the bout had been his loss was infuriating.

"Sasuke-kun! Are you all right ?"

Sakura ran over to her downed team-mate, swiftly followed by everybody else. She gently reached out a hand to aid the boy in standing back up, which he surprisingly accepted.

"I lost..."

Back on his feet, an unhealthy looking amount of sweat and grime built up on his face as he squinted in the direction of his dark haired 'teacher'.

"When sparring there are no losers, only winners and runners up. You both did well for your first time sparring without any chakra and against a team-mate too. Though you both look exhausted."

"Hn, get this stupid thing off of me."

As the raven haired boy tried to swing his arm back to rip the tag of, Sakura just about to do the same, his wrist was caught by a firm grip. Kakashi's dark eye was looking down at his student, a slightly worried look on his face.

"I'm guessing you can't just rip this kind of fuinjutsu off."

"And you'd be right, chakra feedback is a bitch... I should know, I was lucky to survive the first few times I tried out those seals."

Kakashi looked over to Kamen, happy that Sasuke wouldn't try and tear the thing off despite his tired state.

"So you made these? They aren't exactly something a beginner would be able to make, not of this complexity and durability."

Kamen eye smiled cheekily, unperturbed by the jonin's cold gaze.

"Who said I was a beginner?" Turning towards Sakura and Sasuke, who were stood merely a single step apart, he approached the both of them and planted a firm hand on both of their heads, ruffling their already dishevelled hair, "Now, let's get you back to the clearing so that I can remove the seals."

Doing as they were told and followed by a silent Kakashi and Naruto, the latter of which still seemed to be in shock over his Uchiha team-mate's downfall.

"Now both of you sit down and pull the back of your shirts up, I'll remove both at once and apply a bandage to Sakura's wound."

"I'm sure this was a good learning experience for the two, but I don't think I like the fact that you put such a dangerous seal on them."

"I don't think," Kamen began with a cheeky glint, "That such a negligent sensei has anything to say about that."

"Touché."

Kamen kneeled down next to his two patients and clasped his hands together in a snake seal, pulling them apart to reveal almost invisible tiny little threads dancing from the tips of his fingers. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at what he saw while Naruto just seemed confused.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, what are those things?"

As those 'things', as Naruto put it, slowly slinked their way towards the complex looking tags on his young team-mates backs, Kakashi could barely pull himself away from what was going on before him to answer.

"Ah, they look like Chakra threads, something know to be used by Sand shinobi, although mainly by their puppet corps... Other countries know the basics behind the technique, but you have to have a very good control over your chakra to use them for anything more than pulling or pushing a light object towards or away from yourself..."

Naruto nodded slightly, turning back towards Kamen, he vaguely noticed the previously almost invisible blue threads slowly began turning black as the scribbles on the tags stuck to Sasuke and Sakura's backs gradually seemed to fade.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, what is he doing now?"

Sweatdropping at the blond boy's childish curiosity, Kakashi focused in and tried to understand just what the strange man was doing.

"Well it looks like..." The silver haired scarecrow's eye widened as he slowly understood what was happening, "He's pulling the ink off of the paper, slowly shutting down certain parts of the seal to gradually restore their chakra to them... This definitely isn't the work of an amateur..."

After a few seconds more of Silence, Kamen finally let out a breath as he removed the paper tags from his patients' backs.

"There we go... I haven't done that in a while, took quite a bit of effort, especially with you two noise polluting my space."

The slight squinted glare that Kamen pointed at Kakashi was answered by an unapologetic eye smile. He noticed his three students -all of them now stood up- begin to talk together, likely going over the fight that they had just been through.

Pulling the confused time traveller just out of earshot of the three genin of team seven, Kakashi turned to Kamen with a serious look.

"You don't actually intend to apply that seal to Naruto do you?"

Kamen blinked a couple of times, confused.

"Why wouldn't I? Don't you want him to have the same experience as his other team-mates?"

Kakashi gritted his teeth slightly. He wasn't allowed to talk about it, so how could he tell this peculiar man that Naruto was the Kyuubi's host? And if he did tell him, how would he react? Kakashi looked up towards Kamen's slightly lighter blue eyes than usual and a pang of something pulled at his heart, he couldn't really tell what it was. Guilt? Pity? Understanding? All three?

He had only known this other man for two days, though in reality it was more like less than twenty four hours. So then why did he feel such compassion and blind trust towards this man? It was a warm and yet unnerving feeling. It was a feeling that the hardened veteran Shinobi side of Kakashi hated and it was the human side of Kakashi that seemed to like it.

"Is there something wrong? It's true that because he has such large chakra reserves he might have more trouble adapting to the feeling than the other two, but he's an Uzumaki, they're known for their durability right?"

An idea popped into Kakashi's head, a possibly treacherous and sly idea, but oh how he loved it so.

"You know about the Uzumaki?"

"Well... Yeah..." A sombre look seemed to cross Kamen's face, "I went there, to the land of whirlpools I mean... Just after Uzushiogakure fell to Kumogakure... I found a survivor of the war there, he must have seen something in me because he taught me almost everything he know about sealing."

It pained Kamen somewhat to attribute his knowledge of sealing to some non-existent Uzumaki, when in reality he should have been attributing it in part to Jiraya and in part to his father... Minato may have just been a reincarnated corpse, but his mind was as sharp as it had ever been and in the short time that he was around, the fourth Hokage had not only directly imparted a portion of his sealing knowledge onto his son, but had also given him the location of a hidden fuinjutsu research facility buried underground belonging to his truly.

"That explains your skills in fuinjutsu then... You know about the Uzumaki... Good."

Kakashi was unsure of his next words, he had never been this nervous about saying something in his whole life... Should he? Shouldn't he? Each time he weighed his options a flash of his very short time with Kamen popped into his head, the memories still very much fresh... However, muddled into these recent memories were also the somewhat old ones of his long deceased sensei, mentor and friend...

"Then you must know what one of the key roles of Uzumaki clan was? Especially when it came to Konoha?"

A flash of understanding crossed Kamen's eyes, a mix of fake and real emotions blending seamlessly together, he had gotten good at acting.

"There was a strong bond between Konoha and Uzushio, Senju and Uzumaki... That much stronger because the host of the nine tailed fox was supplied to Konoha by Uzushio... The Uzumaki always did make better Jinchuriki than others, not just because of their sealing prowess, but also because of their large chakra reserves..."

Kakashi nodded hesitantly, watching Kamen like a hawk for a reaction that was out of place. To the man's complete and utter shock he could feel the earnest smile gracing the man's concealed lips.

"Thank you for telling me Kakashi... I'm humbled that you would entrust such a secret with me... I probably would have figured it out sooner or later... This explains the slight ominous chakra I could feel from him... But the fact that you told me means a lot."

Kakashi seemed to relax slightly, perhaps he had been a bit hasty in his judgement, but if Kamen had indeed been a spy with ill intent, that information given away so liberally would have tripped even the most professional spy up.

The pair begin to walk back towards their kids, but a slightly mischievous glint crossed Kakashi's eye.

"Maa, maa. It's nothing, just and S-rank secret that you can be executed for revealing."

Kamen stumbled slightly at that, the look on his face being priceless. It was lucky that Kamen had never known that the information about him being a Jinchuriki had been such a highly ranked secret, otherwise he might not have played his role as well as he had.

Kamen's dumbfounded and speechless state was broken when a certain young blond ran up to him and began bouncing on his feet.

"Ne, did you know that Sakura put that explosive note down when she crouched under Sasuke's kick? I didn't even see her do it! So cool! Anyway do I get to spar now? Do I?"

Kamen planted his hand on the boy's head and ruffled his hair back towards his two team-mates.

"They both seem a little tired don't you think? Besides with your large chakra reserves it could be lethal to seal off your chakra, that and I'm not even sure my seals could contain it." Naruto's chest puffed out with pride at the words, but there was also a wave of disappointment, one which would soon disappear, "So how about you spar with me, without any chakra seals?"

Naruto lit up at the idea and agreed without any hesitation, though Kakashi had wanted to be the first one to spar Kamen, he quickly conceded to the orange ball of hyperactivity, not just because he knew that the blond boy desperately wanted to spar the man but also because he wanted to see Kamen's fighting capabilities.

For Kamen, he felt that it would probably be surreal for an outsider who understood everything to watch the two of them prepare to face off, after all Kamen and Naruto were the same person in all technicality.

"Okay, now remember, no killing blows or jutsu that can destroy the landscape understood? Good."

Naruto nodded, he didn't know nor understand that the second rule wasn't really for him, after all he didn't know any landscape destroying jutsu. The only jutsu he really knew were kage bunshin jutsu, henge jutsu and kawarimi jutsu. Whereas Kamen, well let's just say that mount Myoboku might not stand a chance against him, despite the fact that in his despair he had thought himself useless, barely measuring up to Zabuza, in truth if he fought all out he might have been stronger than even Kakashi. Unfortunately being in the past and trying not to get discovered meant almost all of his usual jutsu were off the table, anything he hadn't learnt during the nine years of the fourth Shinobi war were unusable and even then some of them would blow his cover as well. Shadow clone, rasengan, sage mode and a handful of others were straight off the table.

Barring out landscape destroying jutsu, Kamen was left with ordinary clones, henge, kawarimi, a handful of low ranking wind jutsu and that was it. Of course who was to say that his taijutsu wasn't any good?

"Hajime!"

Kakashi shouted lazily from a distance, though his shining eyes betrayed his intrigue in the fight. Almost as soon as the final utterance of his word had left Kakashi's lips, Kamen sped forwards, barely a blur to the untrained eye.

The time traveller approached his younger self at a blinding pace, keeping his upper body almost parallel to the ground as he leaned into his momentum, meanwhile Naruto who had been about to form his favourite cross hand seal and summon his shadows clones was instead forced into striking out at the rapidly approaching blur.

Naruto's fist only hit air, he felt his opponent's fist begin moving towards his face before he saw it and deciding that trying to dodge it was a waste of time, so he took the blow to the face, using Kamen's surprise to latch onto the man's arm with his left hand and strike forwards with his right.

Like past self, like future self, you might say as Kamen also decided that dodging would be a waste of time, though instead of taking the hit, he used Naruto's strong grip on his arm to fling the boy into the air, tossing him a good fifteen meters into the sky.

Naruto panicked as he felt the reassuring feeling of ground beneath his feet suddenly disappear, realising quickly what was happening, he twisted himself in mid-air like a cat. Quickly and without hesitation the young blonde formed a cross hand seal in order to create seven other Narutos.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"Wind release: Wind Cutter Jutsu!"

Kamen finished off his jutsu with a dragon hand seal following it up by slashing his hands, fingers flat, in an X shape up towards his blonde target. Two blades of wind shot off towards their target, intent on slicing it into pieces, although with the power Kamen had put behind the attack, they would have only bruised him.

Thinking quickly, Naruto replaced himself with the closest clone he could feel, the unlucky chakra construct being dispelled on impact. Ignoring the loss, the seven remaining Narutos reached into their pouches and all tossed a shuriken down at Kamen, who was patiently waiting for his prey to land.

Unable to deflect the tools, as Kamen didn't have any weapons on his person, he reached out his hand and snatched the spinning metal death machines out of the air with practised ease. Not waiting a second longer he tossed the seven instruments back up at the raining Narutos, making sure to aim for the legs or arms.

Naruto watched with slight annoyance as his own shuriken came flying back at him. With the speed of the hail of weaponry and being unable to dodge in the air, all of Naruto's clones were dispersed and the sound of something lodging itself into his flesh reached his ears.

Kamen watched his younger self pull the shuriken out of his arm, the wound healing almost instantly, and then land on the ground with a roll. Before he had time to gather his surroundings, Kamen was on top of the boy, aiming a kick to the side of his head.

Naruto ducked under the kick and tried for a leg sweep only for his opponent's leg to come slamming down onto his head before he could complete his movement. A horrid pain blossomed in his skull for a split second before it disappeared, deciding he had had enough he attempted to leap back to create more clones. However Kamen wasn't going to let that happen.

Following the young blonde in his retreat, Kamen ruthlessly grabbed onto the jinchuriki's golden locks, and pulled his head down onto his knee. Unfortunately, Kamen had grown used to fighting people without forehead protectors and had also grown used to the nine tails pain dulling chakra. So rather than deal a solid blow to Naruto the only thing that came out of his attack was a sharp pain in his knee that almost felt as though something might have cracked.

Using his opponent's mistake against him, Naruto grabbed the wrist that was holding onto his hair with one hand and brought a kunnai up to cut it with the other. Luckily Kamen hadn't felt like getting his hand cut off as he let the boy go, hopping backwards a bit. Though it was Naruto's turn to follow his retreating opponent, trying to drive the ring of his bladed weapon into his opponent's chin.

Rather than retreat further, Kamen completely closed the distance between himself and Naruto, darting behind the boy faster than he could blink. The ex-jinchuriki ducked lower than he felt comfortable with in order to wrap his arms around the short boy's stomach, dragging the flailing boy up and then letting their weight tumble backwards into an awkward suplex.

Naruto felt his head collide with the ground, luckily last nights rain had made the ground softer than it should have been otherwise he might have had a seriously bad neck right now. Though as the orange clad host to the jinchuriki rose to his feet, he realised that the grappling and subsequent suplex had not been to take him out of the fight, but rather to steal his tools. His hands flashed to his hip and leg to double check but his pouch and holster had indeed been stolen from him, Kamen now holding them in his hands tauntingly.

Placing the familiar pouches onto himself, Kamen couldn't help but feel slightly at ease, not having his own felt like being naked, but without a shinobi registration number, he was never going to be able to buy anything like it, let alone walk around with them on. Focusing back on the fight Kamen began tossing shuriken and kunnai carelessly and by the dozen, emptying the young genin's pouch and holster in under a second.

Naruto couldn't understand the point of what his opponent was doing and trying any harder to do so would probably end up with him looking like some macabre pin cushion. It didn't take long before Naruto realised what Kamen had been planning. Though the throws had seemed wild, with only a handful seeming to be properly aimed at him, that had been the point. As Naruto looked back at his opponent he could make out the thin razor sharp wires hanging in the air, tied to weapons which had been pinned to the trees and the ground around him.

Kamen had Naruto well and truly cornered, the only way out of his razor wire cage was up or backwards, the latter not being an option because of the rules of the spar. The time traveller's midnight blue eyes watched as his younger self thoughtlessly leapt into the air, reaching high enough to clear the web of wires, though that of course had been what Kamen was expecting him to do.

"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"

Finishing with a bird hand seal and then clapping his hands together, Kamen thrust both his palms forwards, the gust of wind created by this movement was strong enough to tear up the grass at his feet before it arched upwards towards its target.

Naruto was hit and sent flying back into the forest, there was a brief silence before the sound of breaking branches and a heavy 'thump' echoed out of the forest, several birds flying away from their habitat to escape the ruckus.

It didn't take long for Naruto to skid back into the clearing, his eyes bright and sparkly as he ran up to Kamen.

"That. Was. So. AWESOME! Didja see? I was FLYING!"

Kamen sweat dropped slightly, unnerved by his younger self's ability to shrug off something that would have killed anyone else.

"Well I wouldn't call it flying but..." Kamen looked down into Naruto's sparkling puppy dog eyes, almost blinded by the brightness, "Yes, it was 'AWESOME' as you put it."

Steadily walking back over to the center of the clearing the pair noticed that Sakura was clutching onto her arm and that her face was slightly pale. Kamen flicked a look up to Kakashi, to which the Silver haired man nodded, their wordless exchange concluded, Kakashi clapped his hands together loudly and spoke up.

"Right then, it must be at least ten o'clock, I suggest we meet back here after an early Lunch. Sakura-chan, come with me, I'll take you to the hospital to get that arm looked at, might have cut through something important there."

With that Kakashi left swiftly with Sakura in tow, leaving Kamen to stand awkwardly as the two genin in the clearing seemed to be waiting for the other to make a move.

"So... You guys want to go get something to eat?"

Naruto lit up like a flash bomb at the words, nodding furiously, Sasuke seemed a lot less enthused about it.

"Hn, I think I'll stay here and train some more, give me one of those tags of yours."

Kamen frowned slightly, perhaps Sasuke didn't understand how dangerous those tags were, the only reason he had used them in the first place was because he had known that both him and Kakashi were nearby if anything were to happen.

"Not a chance emo-boy, you'll come and eat with us, then when you're under my watchful eye I'll help you train _without_ that seal. For someone who's only just started using it and for someone who has as large a chakra reserve as you do, over training with it applied will only be detrimental."

"Hn, fine."

"We're going to Ichiraku!"

"Who put you in charge dobe?"

"Well I don't know what Icharaku is, but I'll take anything that's open."

Kamen sure as hell damn well knew what Ichiraku was, and he made sure they got there as fast as possible, it had been too long since he had eaten a heavenly bowl of Ichiraku pork miso ramen. It had been almost as long since he had had ramen at all for that matter.

The trio arrived before the ramen stall, the enticing aromas leaking out from it and even Sasuke had to admit it smelled delicious. Kamen froze for a second remembering the many times he had eaten here... No doubt in his timeline Teuchi and Ayame had died. The pair had always been kind to him... He remembered the first time he had eaten here...

_It was just past lunch time and Naruto was starving, he hadn't eaten in more than four days, sure Hokage-jiji stocked up his fridge every weekend, but this week not only had the man not shown up on the day that he usually did so, there was a terrible storm shaking the village, thunder and heavy rain coming down from the dark clouds above._

_The little blonde boy was freezing and starving, he had gone out in search of food each day, but every time he had been kicked out of shops and restaurants because he didn't have any money. His muddy and damp shirt clung to his chest, his eyes were red from crying though his tears had long since been washed away._

_He had gone past one place several time, as it was close to his flat. Though he couldn't make out what the sign said because he didn't know how to read yet, he knew that it was somewhere he might be able to get food because of the people he had seen eating there. Running out of options he decided he would go there again and see what would happen._

_The feeling of the cold air cutting into his skin and rain hammering down on his little head like little bullets pushed the young boy closer to the small shack, its cracked walls and dusty interior told many stories, though the main one was of age._

_Naruto spotted the same man he had seen several times before, his back turned to him, doing something to the cooker he had behind him. Sneaking closer and closer, the little blonde boy could feel the warmth emanating from inside, a delicious salty and meaty smell coming with it._

_He wanted to go in, he desperately did, hiding around the corner slightly he contemplated going in but then he remembered all those smiling faces that turned sour as soon as he mentioned that he didn't have any money... That thought alone discouraged him._

_However as soon as he began to leave he heard the sound of the man inside turn around, a slightly surprised sound escaping his lips, scared that he might be scolded he dashed out of sight, though not quick enough to miss what the man said._

_"Ah, wait young lad, come back!"_

_Naruto froze on the spot, the sound of the rain beating against his skin, the floor and the roofs getting louder, almost syncing up with the sound of his little heartbeats. Cautiously and curiously Naruto went back, peaking round the corner at the slightly tanned man, a warm smile -warmer than the air inside the shack- graced his lips._

_"Come on in, take a seat."_

_Naruto scurried in cautiously, clambering up onto one of the bright red stools, his nose peaked into the air as he sniffed at the delicious smell that permeated it._

_"Here, a nice bowl of miso ramen with chashu pork to warm you up in this cold weather; on the house."_

_As the steaming bowl was placed in front of the small boy, his cheeks lit up a bright red as his bright blue eyes shone with joy. Teuchi couldn't hold back the warm chuckle that escaped his lips. After a hushed, rapid and poorly pronounced 'Idadakimasu', the young boy began digging into the huge bowl with the chopsticks provided to him._

_The little boy was certain this man had a hundred questions for him, just like all the others had, "Where are your parents?", "Why aren't you at Home?", "What are you doing out in the pouring rain?", but instead of all these questions, which the old man certainly had, he only asked one._

_"What's your name kid?"_

_The little blond boy paused, swallowing the piece of meat that he had been chewing and almost chocking in the process, and then with the most innocent and heartfelt of smiles, the young boy answered;_

_"Nawuto!"_

_Teuchi smiled brightly, the action being contagious, as a light chuckled escaped his lips._

_"Naruto, ey? I'm Teuchi. It's nice to meet you kid."_

_"Nwice too meetcha too Teuchi-jiisan!"_

"Teuchi-jiisan, Ayame-chan! It's me!"

The current Naruto's energetic voice broke Kamen away from his reminiscing, the back of his hand reaching up to his face to wipe away the tears that may or may not have been forming in the corner of his eyes.

"Ah, Naruto-kun! Good to see you, and you brought friends too!"

Kamen ducked under the ramen shack's cloth flaps, realising that if he hadn't he likely would have hit his head on the metal pole holding them up. The time traveller's midnight blue eyes focused in on the people behind the counter top. Teuchi had his back turned, probably already preparing Naruto's order, as Ayame picked up a menu before turning to look at the people their little blonde customer had brought. Only now seeing Kamen in all his glory, a slight pink colour tinted her cheeks as she looked him up and down.

"I-It's rare for our Naruto-kun to bring friends, please take a seat and look at the menu."

"Hn."

Sasuke grabbed one of the menus and sat down, swiftly followed by Kamen. Both sitting either side of Naruto who had already taken a seat and began chatting away to Ayame about what they had done today.

Teuchi threw a glance back at the people who were sat at his shop's counter, noting the slightly distant look on the dark haired man's face as he seemed to pretend to scan the menu.

"I suggest the miso chashu pork ramen, it's Naruto's favourite."

Kamen looked up at the man, the distant look in his eyes only fading slightly, it was as if he could hardly believe he was even there, what a strange man.

"I-Uh... I'll take that then."

"Hn, I'll take the teriyaki chicken ramen."

"Coming right up!"

Teuchi turned back to cooking as Ayame tried to socialise with Sasuke, to Naruto's dismay. Upon failing to maintain a one sided conversation with the raven haired boy she set her sights on Kamen, padding along behind the counter to face him. Though both young boys next to him weren't even high enough to see over the counter top, Kamen was a good twice their size, more like thrice, that added to his slightly vacant eyes, gave a bit of an intimidating impression, but Ayame was undeterred.

"So are you these guys' sensei?"

Kamen focused back in on the real world, locking eyes with the young seventeen year old girl. Her long brown hair and big black round eyes were almost hypnotic but were nothing compared to staring down a mangekyo sharingan.

"Yes and no..." At the girl's questioning gaze, Kamen decided it best he clarify, "Their actual sensei is a lazy bum and somehow convinced me into teaching his students for him."

"I... See..." _'Said the blind man waving his wooden leg with an awful grin.'_ "That must mean you're pretty talented though, if a jonin sensei is letting you teach his students."

Kamen squirmed uncomfortably as the young girl leaned in closer over the counter top, eyes locked onto him like a predator would its prey.

"Ah-Uh-Well... I've travelled quite a bit, been around and done a lot. I suppose you could say I picked up more than my fair share of skills along the way."

Either completely oblivious to the man's slight discomfort or pretending to not notice, the young chocolate haired girl pressed on.

"I've never left this village, so tell me what are the people from other countries like?"

Kamen hesitated for a few seconds before answering.

"Truthfully, they're no different from the people of this village... They're ordinary people who are just trying to live their life through adversity. That's not to say that they don't have their own cultures, festivals, beliefs and whatnot... It's just that at their core they're the same as you or me."

Ayame puffed her cheeks out at the rather boring answer, in her opinion. However the answer hadn't really been for her, it had been for Naruto and Sasuke. Though before anyone could say anything in answer, three bowls of ramen were plopped down in front of the three clients. Teuchi grinned like a Cheshire cat, a cloth tossed over his shoulder and his arms at his side as he proudly puffed out his chest.

"Enjoy!"

And so the trio dug into their food in relative silence, Ayame and Teuchi watching happily as their carefully prepared food was enjoyed to its fullest.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

_I felt like I had to justify Kakashi's actions and sentiments in this chapter, because at first it just seems as though he's being completely reckless in his attitude towards Kamen. There are three things that factor into the equation and result in Kakashi's attitude in this chapter._

_The first and I find the most important is that Kakashi is a broken man (At least in my Fanfiction), he lost his team-mates and his sensei under terrible circumstances and ended up with a lot of unresolved and pent up emotions, some of which (the ones which had been directed towards Minato) are being projected onto Kamen because of his (in my and therefore Kakashi's opinion) similarities with Minato._

_The second is quite simply that Kamen is (from what Kakashi knows and understands) a fellow war veteran, they both lived through the same kind of hellish and one sided fights, they both saw hundreds, if not thousands of people die and were both changed because of it._

_The third and possibly the most reasonable one is that Kakashi is a cautious man, (though it may not seem that way in this chapter) his reasoning for befriending Kamen, having him train his students and revealing (albeit implicitly) that Naruto is the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi is that this way he can not only prod and test our time traveller's intentions as much as possible, but he can also keep a close eye on him. I feel that Kakashi is the living embodiment of 'Keep your friends close and your (potential) enemies closer'._

_I did try and show this through several of the narrator's comments and even sometimes what the characters say, but it wasn't obvious and if this isn't understood it kind of makes everything just that bit more confusing._

_Other than that I just want to thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed._


	6. Chapter 6- Assigning The First Mission

**Chapter 6- Assigning The First Mission**

* * *

"A king may be a tool, a thing of straw;

But if he serves to frighten our enemies,

And secure our property, it is well enough;

A scarecrow is a thing of straw, but it protects the corn."

_-ALEXANDER POPE, Essay on Man_

* * *

Kamen, Naruto and Sasuke finished off their bowls of ramen at a leisurely pace, well at least the two black haired members of the trio did, a certain blonde had already filled his guts to the brim with a good dozen bowls of the stuff.

It felt strange to Kamen, seeing this phenomenon from the outside for the first time, rationing was strict during the war, being able to stuff his face in such a way had been a very distant and faded memory.

Kamen watched on fondly as Naruto clutched at his comically oversized stomach, his face betraying the regret he felt for having eaten so much in one go. Sasuke sneered slightly at the sight but before he could make a sly remark Ayame interrupted in a slightly Joyous voice, "That'll be twenty-one thousand ryo please!"

Neither Sasuke nor Ayame would have thought that the already unhealthily pale looking Kamen could have gotten any worse, but at the young teen's utterance a wave of pure white washed over the older man's face, "T-twenty-one thousand ryo?" It seemed as though Kamen had forgotten how to count momentarily, his cool exterior melting away as he began counting on his fingers, "Th-That's twenty-one times my monthly rent!"

Kamen could just barely see a slight smirk grace Sasuke's lips as he reached into his pouch that rested on his hip, "You really aren't a Shinobi Kamen, this much is chump change to us." As if proving his point, he slapped down a stack of thousand ryo notes onto the table, to which Ayame's eyes lit up with ryo signs.

The black-haired time traveller gradually regained his composure, faintly remembering that money wasn't actually that big of a deal for Shinobi. The Forth Great Ninja War truly had affected culture more than anything else, weapons and food became the most valuable commodities during the first two years where there had been people to barter and trade with, after that it was scavenge what you could and carry as little as possible.

Money was the best motivator, Kamen couldn't help but think that he really did need a job, though he wasn't exactly going to ask two genin for their advice, his position of superiority was already slightly knocked of quilter by his lack of money.

"Hey, Teme, stop showing off with all that cash!"

Kamen picked up a slight flinch in Sasuke's posture, a little crack in his mask. The only reason he had so much money was because he had inherited it from every member of his dead clan, that and the Uchiha's treasury had already been rather bloated.

"Now, Now Naruto, if you're going to address someone you should use their name, it's the basics of politeness."

Naruto squinted at Kamen from his slouched position, a finger coming up to scratch at his whiskers, obviously Naruto thought little of Kamen's advice, "What's the point of politeness, a badass shinobi doesn't need that stuff if he can beat anyone he comes across!"

There was a little glint in Kamen's eyes as he straightened himself out on his stool and took on an intellectuel demeaner.

"Well I suppose I might as well declare this an official 'Kamen-sensei' lesson now that you've finished eating, right?" Flicking a gaze to Ayame and Teuchi, who seemed to be waiting for his next words with bated breath, he smiled under his mask, content that they wouldn't mind him borrowing their little shack for a quick shinobi lesson, "You're right Naruto, a badass shinobi or kunoichi should be able to beat anyone he or she comes across, but stopping someone with jutsu and physical strength is only a small part of the puzzle, unlike what the academy would have you think. An enemy who is bruised and battered but still has the stubbornness to keep fighting will come back again and again, whereas someone who has been defeated mentally," Kamen emphasised his words by resting his index finger on his temple, "Is out of the fight for good. Politeness, even to one's enemy can be seen as advantage right off the bat, because the enemy will see it as confidence rather than simple arrogance, staying cool in the face of even the most brutal odds, that's what makes the strongest fighter."

Sasuke was the first to speak up, a question singeing his lips, "Hn, we were always taught that enraging an enemy was the best way to defeat them."

The raven haired genin's eye twitched at the annoying grin he knew Kamen had under his mask, "You see, if a simple smile can irk someone with such ease, imagine how a hothead would feel if he felt he was being looked down upon because his adversary was being polite!"

Naruto seemed to understand thanks to the given example, but he had trouble adapting to the idea. Ever since he had met Kamen, the man hadn't ceased saying things that directly contradicted his most direct beliefs… It made him feel as though he had missed something as he was growing up, a hidden culmination of strategies that all other powerful ninja like the fourth Hokage and the third had discovered and exploited to the fullest. However, Kamen took the young blonde's frown as one of disbelief and so he pressed on.

"But believe you me there are much more obvious uses to mastering manners and politeness, it's not rare that chunin or higher ranked shinobi can be assigned to protecting nobility. When you're hired for such a job you become a representative of your village. Any rudeness you display is the rudeness of your village, any of your failures are your villages and any of your successes are those of your village too. But most importantly, and I can't stress this enough, becoming a chunin is the first step to becoming a leader. You'll never get the respect of your subordinates if you don't yourself respect them enough to be polite."

There was the slightest of sounds as the flap of the ramen shack lifted, the rays of the midday sun lighting up the trio. Kakashi was stood, resting against the frame of the entrance with one hand holding up the cloth that hung above his head. Sakura was standing but a few steps away, a bright red mark in the place of her previous wound, her face seeming much healthier than it had the last time they had seen them.

"I couldn't have put it better Kamen, however your lesson is going to have to end there, team seven and their plus one has a mission!"

Kakashi's eye smile seemed a little more off putting than it usually did, and the 'plus one' in his phrase didn't bode well for a certain black-haired time traveller, "When it comes to politeness, you're are hardly one to talk Kakashi… Wait, what do you mean 'plus one'?"

The sadism in the ex-anbu's eye faded slightly as his shoulders slouched a bit more than normal, "I'll explain along the way to the Hokage's tower, he wants us to report to him personally, all five of us."

Kakashi began leaving, assuming that Kamen would follow behind, a grim look that only Sakura caught a glimpse of painting his visage as the memory of his encounter at the hospital ran through his thoughts.

_Kakashi had been sat on a bench just outside the Hospital, waiting for Sakura's healing to be over. A little park like area had been erected for the patients; benches, green grass, trees and a little pond were the scenery he had surrounding him. He felt at peace here and with his new injury prone students, he had got to hang around this place quite often in the last few weeks._

_However peace is never eternal and the calming quiet was suddenly replaced by a pervasive silence. Something which made Kakashi shift his black gaze from the clear azure sky down to his surroundings, scanning them thoroughly without making a single sudden gesture. Where he had previously spotted a handful of patients and nurses mulling around in the distance, he now saw not a single soul._

_His inner tension was snapped by a sudden flicker and a shimmering of the air which added sound to the soundless park, seven pairs of feet landing on the soft grass with barely a sound. Kakashi's eye fixed itself onto the six black-clad anbu, stood in a diamond formation. They approach the seated son of the white fang and as they were but a few steps away, a white and red clad man emerged from the obscurity. _

_Kakashi barely showed his surprise at the appearance of the man before him, and yet the smile that graced the older man's wrinkled lips, despite the smoking pipe that was clutched between them, gave away that he had read the ex-anbu like an open book. A bony hand reached up to the hat that rested atop its owner's head, lifting it up slightly to unveil narrowed brown eyes and a face marred by wrinkles and kidney spots. _

_The Disciple of the Second Hokage, The Teacher of the Sannin, The God of Shinobi, The Professor or The Third Hokage… Hiruzen Sarutobi stood before Kakashi Hatake, the aged leader had left his tower and come halfway across the village to see him… All that was left in Kakashi's mind at that instant was: Why? _

"_Don't seem so surprised Kakashi-Kun, when one of my best and brightest starts giving away S-rank secrets to a complete stranger, you had better hope I find out about it. I would not make a very good ruler otherwise, would I? Now tell me *bochan*, what made you do something so irrational?"_

_Bochan was the nickname Hiruzen used for Kakashi when he was severely *pissed* with him, not that anyone would be able to tell as not even the air around the aged Kage seemed to give away a millimetre of the anger that he felt. However, that word was like a trigger for Kakashi, it was almost as if it alone reverted the fully-grown veteran soldier to the young thoughtless genin he had once been. Swallowing the lump in his throat Kakashi began spewing out the first thing that came to his mind, something only his Kage could make him do. _

"_Kamen-san seemed like a potential asset for the village and a situation arose that risked compromising the seal on Naruto-kun had I not mentioned anything. He doesn't seem- No, he isn't the type of person who would be a spy for another village!"_

_Sarutobi's calm gaze pierced through Kakashi's eye and into his soul. He didn't have to do this, he knew Kakashi's loyalty to the village was absolute, but this was his punishment. If the white haired man got off with just a slap on the wrists Hiruzen would lose quite a bit of credibility, not that many people even knew of Kakashi's slip up, but those who did were much more important. The scarecrow was spouting anything that came to mind and had the possibility of absolving him, and the old war hero knew it, but he gracefully ignored the ramshackle defence Kakashi had put up, instead he set about solving the current issue; an unknown with too much information. _

"_You'll be the only one picking up your own slack bochan. As you well know, Sunagakure's movements have become erratic of late, as has those of the land of wind's Daimyo. We cannot currently afford to show weakness, and should this Kamen Sakamoto character turn out to be a spy…"_

_Kakashi nodded grimly, his bangs shadowing his eyes slightly, he had acted on his emotions, something a true shinobi should never do. Kakashi had always had trouble maintaining control over his inner demons, but of late, with Naruto being a constant reminder of his dead sensei, it had gotten even worse. No amount of Anbu emotional strengthening had helped him back then and he was certain it wouldn't now, but he had to take responsibility, had to show he was still a shinobi of Konoha, "I'll take care of him myself sir…"_

_Sarutobi was satisfied with that. As a person and as a sort of grandfather figure to the copy nin, it pained him greatly to even make him think for a second that he would have to harm someone he saw as a comrade, but as a leader he saw it as a fitting punishment, "Now, let's not be hasty Kakashi-kun, you said he might be an asset to the village did you not? What kind of a Leader would I be if I not only ignored the advice of one of my elite soldiers but also passed up on the chance to gain a new defender of the peace. No, I think we'll give this Kamen Sakamoto a chance. A_s soon as your team is ready come to my office and bring Kamen-san along, I wil_l have a mission for you."_

_A wave of relief washed over the downtrodden veteran. His shoulders, which he hadn't even realised had tensed, suddenly went slack and a stiff pain in them erupted, like a sort of cramp. A soft hand placed itself on Kakashi's shoulder snapping him out of his stupor, a young nurse stood next to the bench. Sound had returned to the world, people had started coming into the park and the seven intruders had vanished, "Kakashi-san? Your student has been healed; the bill will be sent to the Hokage's office." _

The group had been walking for a short while, Kakashi gave his somewhat altered explanation of the situation to get Kamen to follow along. The five of them stuck out like a sore thumb in the growing crowds of midday civilians. Not too far in the distance, a tall red tower with the kanji for 'fire' engraved into its side cast its shadow across the academy which stood but a few meter away from its base.

"So, you want me to accompany you guys on a mission?" Kamen seemed slightly on edge, anyone would be if they were suddenly summoned by the leader of a country, which was lucky because it allowed the midnight blue eyed man to hide his real anxieties, that he had been uncovered or was at the very least suspected of something fishy.

"That's right, I'm not quite sure of the details but the missive I received said that he has an important mission that would be too difficult for a simple group of genin but that it wasn't worth assigning a chunin squad to. I was thinking that my team with you added on might be up to the task."

Suspicious wasn't the right word, Kamen now knew something was up, but if he reacted, he would blow his cover. Sure enough, Kamen knew a little bit about leadership and how ninja villages were organised, and he knew that Kakashi didn't have the authority to add an unaffiliated combatant to a mission, not without the authority of a superior. And who exactly stood above an elite jonin sensei? Well it certainly wasn't a clan head or the anbu commander… No, this was set up by none other than the Hokage himself… Now as to the why? Kamen didn't have an answer… Yet…

It didn't take long for the group of five to make their way up the tower, once they had been given the green light by the tower's rather elderly secretary. Kamen couldn't stop his heart from beating at a thousand miles per hour as they paused before the large mahogany doors of the Professor's office. The two guards on either side looked team seven and their plus one up and down several times before tugging on the brass handles, unveiling the inside of the room before them.

The room was built in the shape of a half circle with windows lining most of the curved side, looking down upon the village from on high. A huge desk that looked like it was made of material that could resist an S-rank fire jutsu with barely a scratch,with behind it a large leather office chair that looked as though it would be heavenly on the spine, was where the third Hokage could be found.

To the left of the doorway leading in was a small corner with two sofas, a small coffee table and a door that lead into the Hokage's personal quarters. The place seemed to have been designed with the intention of serving as a home away from home for any Kage who so wished to isolate themselves in their work.

The leather chair that the Hokage was sat in had been spun to stare out over the village as the midday rays of sun lit up the multi-coloured rooves and ununiform rows of buildings. Having likely know of team seven's arrival beforehand, the leader of Konoha calmly turned around to greet his guests.

Kakashi was the first to enter, swiftly followed by his three genin who seemed remarkably well behaved compared to usual, especially for a certain young blonde, though that didn't stop his usual, "Hi old man!" from escaping his lips. Kamen hung back a little, seeming to slouch more than even Kakashi as he tried his best to melt into the background.

The air of the room was as disarming as the almost wistful smile that graced the third Hokage's lips as he greeted Naruto with a slight nod, his fingers interlaced in front of his face, "Good to see you Naruto-kun, how goes the Ninja life?"

Kamen found it strange that neither Sasuke nor Sakura seemed to question the peculiar attitude the Kage took when interacting with the jinchuriki of the kyuubi, but perhaps they already had grown used to it from their short time as shinobi, "Great! Kakashi-sensei said you had an awesome mission for us!"

In that moment, the raven haired veteran wished Jiraya had taught him the chameleon jutsu when he was young so that he could disappear right now, not that it would have helped when faced with Konoha's elite, after all they might not have invented the Jutsu but they sure as hell mastered it. Kamen knew that there were guards in the room, likely six or seven very faint chakra signatures, barely the level of a fly, however even those were so vague and fuzzy that he couldn't be sure of their exact location.

Hiruzen's gaze shifted from young Naruto to his older version, his narrow brown eyes scanning him up and down until finally settling on the midnight blue orbs that gazed back at him. Hiruzen was very suddenly confused, rather he was unsure what to feel for the first time in a long time… This person who stood behind team seven, who he was certain he had never met, was peering back at his brown eyes with a vortex of emotions, nostalgia, fondness, respect and sadness all cascaded together into a melting pot of hazy blue, "And who might this be? Did Kakashi-kun bring along a little extra help?" At the grey-haired leader's words Kamen snapped to attention, the veteran's misty eyes regained their outer shell and his whole body straightened up as though he were about to salute, "That's correct Hokage-sama. I am Kamen Sakamoto, it's an honour to meet you sir."

"It is a pleasure to meet you too Kamen-san. However, I would like to get an idea of your skills before I can allow you to accompany my soldiers on their mission…" '_and answer honestly, I'll be able to tell if your lying' _was what Kamen felt the third meant by his slightly serious gaze.

"Of course, Hokage-sama, I have an elemental affinity for wind jutsu and am able to utilise a small selection of offensive ones, however my main proficiency which I am most confident in would be Fuinjutsu. I wouldn't say I'm as skilled as Jiraya of the Sannin, but I believe that my ingenuity makes up for my lack of mastery of the art as I mainly focus on the combat and training applications of it. Apart from that I'm about average with taijutsu, shuriken and Kunai. While I have never really been interested in kenjutsu or genjutsu, I can handle myself enough in both to defend myself from them."

There was a silence in the office for a few minutes, Kamen hadn't lied, Hiruzen could tell, however it was obvious he had purposefully omitted certain details… However, that wasn't enough to warrant branding him a spy. As he had originally suspected, talking to this man would not be enough to expose him, were he actually an infiltrator, "I understand why Kakashi would want to bring you along as insurance then, but tell me, are you a mercenary perhaps? It's rare that people with your kind of skills just appear from nowhere."

A slightly sombre air washed over Kamen's being, something that the Hokage didn't miss, "I was never officially a shinobi, sir… However, I was drafted as a soldier when I was young… I'm from Kewagakure, you see-" The oldest man in the room rose his bony fingers in the air slightly, as a sign for him to stop.

"I understand, it would be best we pick up this conversation on a separate occasion, perhaps when there are less ears." It was implicit that the old man didn't want the genin to hear what the war veteran had to say, especially not Sasuke who had already lived through a massacre, hearing about another would likely only harm the boy's already delicate psyche, at least that was what Hiruzen thought, "I'll approve your going along on this mission with them."

A gentle smile graced the old kage's lips as he turned back towards Kakashi, rummaging slightly around in his papers before retrieving a thick looking paper folder, "Now then, today's mission is slightly more complicated than usual and the time range is uncertain, it has been designated as a B-rank mission as a precaution, however I believe team seven along with Kamen-san's help will likely be enough to handle it." Kakashi stepped closer to the desk and grasped the folder that had been handed to him by his superior's outstretched arm. Throwing a quick glance over the details of the mission, he swiftly nodded, "Alright, team seven and their plus one accepts the mission to escort Ozymandias of the Land of Wind's daughter from Otafuku Gai to Ren'ai Fuun. We will be departing in thirty minutes; I want to see everyone at the Main gate by then."

And with that everyone left the Hokage's office, Kamen having only a single thing running through his mind, _'Why the hell did I go along with this?'_

* * *

**Author's note:**

_Yup, It's me again, I wanted to apologise for the length of time it took me to upload this one, I must have written and rewritten it in its entirety at least three times (because yes, the pre-written material ended a chapter ago and save going over the old stuff for inspiration I'm having a little trouble pushing onwards)… Finding a legitimate and logical reason as to why Kamen would end up going along with team seven on a mission was complicated. (trust me the first two ideas, which were a preemtive suna attack and Kakashi basicly throwing caution to the wind and breaking what I imagine would have been several guidlines, were not the best nor the most thought out ideas, especialy because of what is to come) I hadn't originally meant for Sarutobi to get involved with it, but I think it turned out pretty well. And as you could tell I've modified Hiruzen's character a little (quite a lot) to make him seem a little more leader-like, I was never really satisfied with the Kage of Canon, they all seemed a little bit like wet blankets, at least in my opinion. When other Kage Show up, expect them to have some drastic changes as well._

_I also wanted to take this time to address the issue of pairings in my story as posed by Aya Song. I do have a pairing in mind, relating to Kamen, though it isn't going to be for a while and I'll keep my lips sealed as to who the mystery woman is going to be. (Remember he's twenty-six and most of the other people he cherished in his timeline are 12~14, so no one from the younger generation) And yeah, sorry to all those Fujoshi out there, but there ain't going to be no KakashixKamen in this one! _

_That's all I wanted to say, except that as usual, I hope you enjoyed and if you've got some feedback don't hesitate to post a review! _


	7. Chapter 7- The Daughter Of Ozymandias

**Chapter 7- The Daughter Of Ozymandias the Great**

* * *

"_Knowing too much of your future_

_is never a good thing."_

\- RICK RIORDAN, _The Lightning Thief_

* * *

As most of the clocks in Konoha ticked over to half past one in the afternoon, five people gathered in front of two huge green doors, built into an equally large stone wall. On either of the doors were Kanji painted in bright red which, when the gate was closed, combined to spell out the word 'hidden', rather fitting all things considered.

Kakashi barely seemed any different from usual except that he had a grey backpack slung over his shoulder, the same could be said for his three pupils. Kamen was the exception.

His usual black scarf had been discarded in favour of showing off his facemask, his padded black shirt had been covered by a thin silver coloured armour and on each of his limbs were similar looking arm and leg guards, all of which were reminiscent of something an anbu would wear.

A lazy whistle broke the silence as Kakashi looked Kamen up and down a little, "Well would you look at that, just missing the mask and tanto and you'd be the splitting image of an Anbu!"

Kamen eye smiled offhandedly, he hadn't been too confident when he had been preparing for this journey, he was quickly getting whisked up in events that were out of his control and he didn't like that too much.

He hadn't brought much except for a kunai which was hidden in his right boot and some scrolls which were stashed underneath his arm and leg guards, but even with these things, he didn't feel very reassured. There was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind, like all of this was going to go horribly wrong. That and he had never heard of Ozymandias, meaning his team had most definitely not gone on a mission to escort his daughter, especially not within the two weeks prior to the chunin exams, that was just insane, but rather than show his inner stress, he simply said: "You know what they say about clothes making the man, Kakashi…"

The white-haired scarecrow eye smiled obliviously before answering with a completely straight face under his mask, "That it's a sexist idiom?" It took Naruto all his might not to burst out laughing at his sensei's response, though Sakura next to him was simply nodding in agreement, "That's not- You know what, never mind, shall we get going?"

Though it was a question the dark-haired time traveller wasted no time in leaping up to the branches of the oversized trees above, swiftly followed by team seven. Kamen only noticed a few seconds after departure that he was going too fast for the genin and quickly slowed down to match their pace, which Kakashi had been matching from the beginning.

The group advanced in silence for a while, but of course Naruto wasn't going to tolerate it for long, "Ne, Kamen-sensei, how long will it take us to get to Otafuku Gai?"

The man in question could practically hear Kakashi's pout as he hung at the back of the group's haphazard formation, "Why don't you ask your actual sensei Naruto? I've only really only visited the place once, I'm sure he can tell you _exactly_ how long it takes to get there."

Kakashi's pout receded for a second before he realised what Kamen was insinuating; that he, Kakashi Hatake, the most moral of morally moral men had been to Otofaku Gai on a regular basis, or at least often enough for him to know exactly how long it took to get there! How preposterous!

Otafuku Gai was a hub of gambling, prostitution, drugs and other such illicit activities. The whole place was basically a huge red-light district, though Konoha didn't dare interfere with its activities because of the revenue and tourism it attracted from all over the elemental nations. Not to mention the opportunity it gave disguised Konoha Kunoichi to gather information about other countries, though such methods were official frowned upon, that didn't mean that in the shadows the practise wasn't forced upon certain up and coming anbu recruits.

At Naruto's expectant gaze, Kakashi gave his answer, "I suppose at the speed we're going; we should reach our objective by tomorrow morning." Seemingly satisfied with that answer Naruto turned his attention to some light flirting with Sakura, which she promptly ignored, or if the young blond got to heated, answered with violence.

All this time Sasuke had been as silent as a mouse, his sharp black eyes having been studying the inter-personal dynamics of the mismatch of people before him. Sasuke was smart. His so-called 'fans' like to brag on his behalf, and he himself was on occasion a little too prideful of it, but this didn't change the fact that he was indeed smart. He had to be, not only because his _dear brother _was, but also because he had been in charge of the entire Uchiha clan's territory and funding from the age of seven. Nothing wizens you up like a kettle of vultures circling overhead and a pit of vipers lapping at your feet.

It was thanks to said intelligence that Sasuke knew something was strange about this entire situation. None of what had been going on made much sense in his opinion. Kakashi had, from what the raven-haired boy could deduce, only know Kamen Sakamoto for two days. Though for a shinobi this was long enough to know every nitty gritty little detail about someone, it was most definitely not long enough to trust someone. And there was the paradox, Kakashi seemed to know very little about Kamen and yet trusted him enough to bring him along on a mission; it was unthinkable to the last loyal Uchiha. And the way they interacted was way too natural, the flow of their conversation was too smooth, almost like a pre-written play.

Sasuke however, had no more time to ponder the matter, not that he hadn't already been doing so for a while as he hadn't even notice the sky's orange and pink tint, "Alright team, I'd say it's about time we stopped for the day, it'll be pitch black before we get the tents up otherwise."

The group gradually slowed until they came to a full stop before an outcropping of particularly dense trees and shrubbery, though in the centre of it was just enough room to set up a few tents, "Okay, as usual Naruto will head out with a shadow clone to gather sticks, Sakura will set up the tents and Sasuke will set the traps."

Kamen flashed a quick glance over the group as they prepared to rush into action, a slight smile tugging at his lips as he interrupted, "Why don't you guys switch things up a little? Sasuke puts up the tents, Sakura gets the sticks for a fire and Naruto sets the traps?"

All four members of team seven turned to look at Kamen as though he had just said the most ridiculous thing that had ever passed a person's lips, so incredulous were their looks that Kamen felt like defending himself. Whether verbally or physically, he wasn't too sure, "Why would we wanna do that Kamen-sensei? I'm the best at gathering sticks, Sakura's real quick at putting up the tents and Sasuke-teme isn't terrible at setting up traps!" "Meaning I'm the best" Sasuke added on swiftly and seamlessly.

Kamen, in the three days of knowing these kids, had grown to enjoy 'teaching' them. He imagined it was why people wanted to have children, to teach them the things that they themselves had never known as a kid, to make them better than they themselves had been, to have a little mini-me to mould into the best possible person. Although in this case one of them really was a mini-me, "Exactly, if you only stick to what you know and are good at, you'll never get any better. Imagine a situation where Sasuke is out of action, for example if he were injured as you were retreating from an enemy, who would set up the traps then?"

Kamen used examples and made up situations a lot, but there was a good reason for that, because he believed that using complex terminology and pretty words were worth nothing in the face of a concrete example, something that Jiraiya had helped instil in him through his training methods. And his point was only proven when the three young genin didn't need any more convincing than that, each setting out to perform their unfamiliar tasks.

Sakura parted from the group and vanished off into the forest a little nervously, Naruto fumbled around the clearing with ninja wire, bells and flash tags while Sasuke was busy studying a metal pole that, he couldn't for the life of him, figure out where it went in the supposedly quick and 'easy-to-set-up' tent.

The two adults on the other hand were sat on moss covered logs they had pulled from the ground and begun using as improvise seating, doing work of their own kind, "You know Kakashi, I've never heard of this 'Ozymandias' guy, nor his daughter?"

Kakashi nodded slightly, shifting his bodyweight on the log to try and get into a comfortable position, "That's not surprising, until recently he was just a minor noble in the Daimyo's court, that is until he decided that he was too good to serve under someone else. He abandoned the capital and set off towards the northern border of the Land of Wind to set up his own town, Ren'ai Fuun. I heard it started off pretty badly because of the location he chose, a little know place called 'the valley of red sand', but that in recent months the place has been booming economically, though I didn't hear why…"

Kamen furrowed his brow in confusion. He strained his mind for any hazy memories of such a place as Ren'ai Fuun or even the 'valley of red sand', but for the life of him couldn't remember a thing. Until a little flash of something, a conversation he had had with Sakura once, about her fight with one of the members of the Akatsuki, "That valley of red sand you mentioned, wouldn't have anything to do with Sasori of the red sand would it?"

Kakashi flinched slightly, his eyes widening with surprise that Kamen knew that man's name. A sombre aura washed over the white-haired man. He knew a lot about Sasori, he had made it a point at one time… He had found out that his father had killed the red haired puppet master's parents; a potential enemy should always be watched closely, though in recent years he hadn't heard much about him, "That's right, it was a battlefield during the third great shinobi war, one that gave both Sasori and the valley their names…" Kakashi scanned his surroundings, spotting Sasuke, finally finishing off the first tent… only for it to collapse and Naruto… trapped in a mess of wires while one of his clones tried to help him. They wouldn't hear, "Sasori massacred more than a few Konoha shinobi, including many genin, during that battle… I… I lost a few friends to it."

Kamen nodded silently, fully understanding the pain that was showing on Kakashi's face and in his eyes. Nothing would wash away the blood which had stained the elemental nations during that war, though if history repeated itself, it would be concealed under a much larger ocean of blood and despair.

The sound of Sakura stumbling back into the clearing with her arms full of neatly arranged sticks drew the adults away from their conversation, she approached the pair and set the stick down next to them, swiftly moving to light a fire between the two, "So Sakura, how did your little outing go?" The pink haired girl scrunched her nose up slightly, before answering in a slightly disgusted tone, "There were way too many insects and dead animals! I even had a slug climbing up my arm, I hate those disgusting things…" Sakura shivered as she thought of the memory, though it was a good job she hadn't been looking at Kamen as the Irony of her words were almost enough to make him burst out laughing. The future holder of a summoning contract with the slugs was expressing her hatred of them!

Sasuke arrived to the embers of a soon to be campfire glowing under the slightly callused hands and soft breath of his pink haired teammate, a thoroughly annoyed scowl gracing his features. He had managed to get the tents up after several tries, though that wasn't without having caught his finger in the sliding metal pipes, hit his hand with a mallet, gotten stuck under the tarp and almost stuck a tent peg through his foot. Though his sour mood quickly lifted as he saw that he wasn't having the worst of it when Naruto arrived.

The blonde's poor orange jumpsuit had tears and bloodstains in several different places where he had accidentally set off his own kunai traps, that and his eyes were bloodshot from clumsily setting off a couple of flash tags on the outer perimeter, "What happened dobe? Couldn't remember where you set up your own traps? Must have more in common with squirrels than just the whiskers."

Naruto flashed the dark-haired boy a miffed glare but was too tired to fully retaliate with his usual gusto, instead settling for a, "I just hope my tent doesn't fall on me when I'm sleeping."

Kamen eye smiled softly towards the pair, "Don't worry, me and Kakashi will keep watch for tonight, so you can all get a full night's sleep." The white haired jonin nodded in agreement, and with an eye smile and condescending tone added: "You deserve it with all the hard work you put in!"

Naruto squinted at his official sensei, "Hard work that we wouldn't have had to do if it wasn't for you two!" Kakashi chuckled slightly at that, the blonde already having forgotten that Kamen had only made a suggestion, they had been the ones to follow it, though it was true that he made a convincing argument, "Maa, it was a learning experience, I'm sure!"

The orange clad boy huffed slightly. He might have been an endurance freak, but mental energy was something he had very little of. There had been too much thinking and too many lessons that he had taken in today. That may have been why in favour of doing his usual routine with his sensei, he left towards one of the four one-man tents.

None of the people in the clearing failed to notice this attitude which was highly unlike the usually energetic jinchuriki, but either they didn't think it was polite to pry or, in the case of the two adults, knew that Naruto wasn't the kind of person to be down and out, he always got back up on his feet. Though Kamen was the only one who knew all too well how badly that could wear away at one's soul.

Gradually the clearing fell silent as the friendly chatter died down, and soon enough Kamen was the only one left awake, taking first watch. The cold darkness closed in on him, but for the first time in a long time, the flickering flames of the campfire were enough to keep it at bay. His mind drifted, though his senses stayed sharp.

Flashes of his life passed before his eyes. A small boy facing off against two kinds of demon on a bridge, the cold wind blew over his body and reached through his clothes to his pale skin. A large and calloused hand running through golden locks as a hearty chuckle resonated from aged lips, the soft and even breathing coming from the tents reached his ears. A fierce battle followed by an emotional funeral with rain coming down from above and incense burning in the wind, the comforting smell of burning wood ash reached his nose. A muddy battle ground with blood pooling in a child's mouth as a blonde woman finally escaped her mental curse, the feeling of slick saliva reached his lips as his tongue passed over their dry surface. The fearful promise of a lonely child who had lost a dear friend, the sour memories reached his mind. The burning inner courage of a young teen as he faced off against six immortal beings who were but one false god, the bright orange and red flames reached his retina.

The death, the endless death that followed him, everywhere, the darkness was closing in- "Kamen-san?"

The dark-haired man was snapped out of his thoughts, his white knuckles and pin prick pupils flashed towards the source of the voice. Kamen froze, his fist barely an inch away from Sasuke's face as the air pressure from the movement alone made the young boy's hair dance. A slightly shocked look graced the Uchiha's features, but he quickly recovered narrowing his eyes slightly. Kamen lowered his arm, bringing it stiffly down to his side, his eyes going back to the fire, "I-I'm sorry about that, I was far away."

"It's fine, I should have known better than to sneak up on you." Kamen was slightly shocked at the young Uchiha's words, in his other life he had never been on the receiving end of such words from his teammate, but he quickly corrected his thought process. He wasn't Naruto and Sasuke wasn't his teammate, here and now, Kamen was Sasuke's senior in more ways than one, and the raven-haired boy understood that well, "Did you want something?"

The last loyal Uchiha carefully made his way to the log that was still set up in front of Kamen, resting his body upon it awkwardly, "I was curious as to where you came from? Did you know Kakashi when he was younger?"

Kamen smiled softly, some memories from his other life still fresh in his mind, "I'll answer the easiest first, I haven't known Kakashi for long, only two days and yet we've come to a mutual understanding… Because of your first question…"

Sasuke frowned slightly, he didn't quite understand what his secondary sensei meant, his words were shrouded by their structure and by the shadow of Kamen's soul, "I don't understand?"

Kamen didn't want to say this again, didn't want to use the memories of mangled corpses and dead friends to simulate a different tragedy and yet he did, "I lived in Kewagakure, which used to be land of claw."

Sasuke's eyes grew darker, there was something about the way Kamen was talking that he _really _didn't like, "What do you mean 'used to'?"

Kamen looked up to Sasuke as his midnight blue orbs gazed into a void, "I mean that it used to be in the land of claw… It's … Gone now… There was a battle during the third great shinobi war and a lot of people died, almost everyone in fact… I haven't actually met another survivor from there so I might even be the last one…"

A grim smile grace Kamen's lips as he looked away from Sasuke and into the sky. He was the last one, or at least the only one, who had seen what he had seen, lived through what he had lived through. Everyone else was gone, erased by all of the nine tailed demons and their cursed jutsu. Though Kamen couldn't think of that for long as Sasuke pulled him away from his thoughts with a dark and trembling voice, "You mean… You mean you're like me? Is that why you're strong? How can you be so carefree?!"

Wild, bordering on crazed eyes stared down at Kamen, Sasuke having leapt to his feet, pushed by his outrage. However, as Kamen looked up at him in surprise, he saw the regret of his words wash over his face, a paleness tinting his skin, "I-I didn't mean that… I'm sorry."

The time traveller watched as the survivor of the Uchiha clan's massacre sat back down, looking ashamed of his own words, "Don't worry about it Sasuke… I wouldn't say that I'm like you… I don't think anyone else in the world has gone through what you have, seeing your family being cut down by your own brother… That's not something I would wish upon my worst enemy... But we definitely have some things in common… As for my strength and carefree attitude… They're not as genuine as I'd like them to be…"

Sasuke looked back up at Kamen, the look of regret gone and instead replaced with confusion, "You think I'm strong Sasuke? You think your brother is strong? There are people out there who could wipe us both out in one fell swoop. Do you want to know why?" Sasuke nodded swiftly and yet with a hint of disbelief at his words, "Because we _aren't_ strong, neither me nor your brother. You on the other hand… Just because we can cast a few fancy jutsu and just because we can physically overwhelm a number of opponents… That doesn't make us strong, it means we're weak… Both me and your brother have killed, killed more than you can imagine and that makes us weak. Because the courage it takes to be what you are Sasuke… What Sakura and Naruto are… To be young children in this kind of world who are subject to the whims and cruelty of those who outrank you or are older than you, and yet to also have the kind of spirit and kinship that I see in you… That takes strength beyond anything me or your brother could ever produce, no matter how much we try… Remember these words well Sasuke; your team could overcome every hardship the world has to offer if it were to unite as one."

A pensive silence invaded the clearing as the sound of insects singing off in the distance seemed to become mute, mourning in place of the two waking humans. Neither moved for a long time, not until Kakashi came out of his tent to relieve Kamen of his post, at which time Sasuke also headed off to sleep.

The morning came too quickly for the raven-haired pair, neither having slept well because of their haunted minds. And yet both hid their fatigue and trauma with practised ease. The group of five cleared up their temporary camp of almost all traces that they had even been there, only a highly trained ninja would notice the soft earth under which was buried the ashes from the fire.

Though the quintet were silent in their resuming of their journey, the silence didn't last long as the sound of hustle and bustle from a busy town reached their ears. Kakashi's predicted time it would take to get to Otafuku Gai technically hadn't been wrong, though it was ironic that they had camped barely twenty minutes away from their target, "Alright, the mission details said that miss Lisandra, the young princess's caregiver, would be waiting for us at a Hotel with the girl and a small escort…"

Naruto was the first to express his feelings on what was said, though less because of quick wit and more because of a lack of filter to his words, "Wait! If she has her own escort, then what are we here for?"

Kakashi nodded seriously, seeming to finally be acting like an actual squad leader, "It's likely that what ever threats to her life there may be, she thinks that ordinary samurai guards won't be enough… Either way, we have a mission, so it's time to get started, I think I know where the hotel mentioned in the mission's folder is."

The group of five set out with trepidation into the bustling town of Otafuku Gai, though one of them couldn't help the rising dread within his heart. A lot had passed yet there was much more to come. Kamen knew this better than anyone, but this was the first time since he had arrived in the past that he was heading into a fully unknown situation.

It didn't take long for the group to arrive before a very large and very posh looking hotel, a flashy golden sign hanging above the sleek doorway with the words _'The Fortunate Tortoise Hotel'_ painted in an intriguing red, "So this is the place Kakashi? It doesn't seem like somewhere royalty would hang around-"

Just as Kamen finished his phrase a shrill voice echoed out from behind the doors of the hotel, "MY LADY! YOU MUST BE PATIENT!" The only answer the voice got was a swift, "I DON'T WANNA!" And with that the doors to the reception area burst open.

A young girl, no older than ten, had kicked the door open. The peculiar green and pink dress she wore was wrinkled all over, as though she had just fought her way through a bar fight. Despite this, long dirty blond locks hung behind her rather neatly, reaching down to her waist, which was no large feat as she was even shorter than young Naruto. Her bright big cerulean eyes had narrowed pupils as she flashed a peeved look towards the small crowd which blocked her path, however as soon as her glare latched onto the headbands toted by four out of the five people, it dissipated, "KONOHA SHINOBI!"

The young girl leapt towards the group, her arms snatching the closest person to her, which happened to be Naruto. The young blonde, completely unprepared, toppled to the ground in an awkward tangle of limbs. Kamen's midnight blue eyes widened slightly as the so called 'princess' began feeling him -or rather his past self- up, "Jeez, you're meant to be a shinobi? Where's all the meat and muscle?"

The predator raised its sight and instead locked on to Kamen, eyes scanning him up and down as a peverted old man would an attractive young woman. A wave of self-consciousness washed over Kamen as he crossed his arms in front of his body armour, unfortunately that wasn't the right idea because as soon as he did the young girl's eyes began to sparkle, "Now that's what I'm talking about, those are some tasty looking biceps!"

Kamen couldn't help but want to back away as the so-called child began stomping her way towards him. Luckily for the dark-haired time traveller, the shrill voice from before finally caught up and grabbed the impending law-suit in the making by the collar. Slightly out of breath, the voice began in a more composed tone than before, though her wrinkled face still betrayed her anger, "My Lady, how many times must I tell you not to run away from your bodyguards and harass strangers!"

It was only as the slightly elderly woman realised quite who her ward had been pestering that she adressed them, "Oh my, if it isn't the Konoha Shinobi we hired, I was told that the son of the white fang would be coming along but I hadn't expected you'd look so much like your father!"

At that the withered woman bowed deeply, forcing her charge to do the same, "I am Lisandra Geldwyn and this little miss here is Shale of Ren'ai Fuun, daughter of Ozymandias the great!"

* * *

Author's Note:

_Another chapter done and dusted! This one took me quite a lot of mental excercise because I kept wanting to do too many thing. Originaly Sakura was the one who approached Kamen at night (have fun imagining how that would have gone) and Shale was going to be your typical pompous and stoic noble, but I decided that that old tale needed a little spice added to the mix. Anyway, I'm thinking it didn't turn out too bad in the end. I'm hoping you guys are getting a little bit hyped up over the uncharted territory! I can give you this as a little prelude (no spoilers though): There's going to be a (hopefully) pretty badass fight and a little bit of romance in the next chapter so look forward to it!_

_That's all for now though, don't hesitate to review the story and if there are any questions which I can anwser without spoiling anything, i'll anwser them at the end of a chapter! Bye for now! _


	8. Chapter 8- The Killer Behind The Mask

**Chapter 8- The Killer Behind The Mask**

* * *

"On tue un homme, on est un assassin.

On tue des millions d'hommes, on est un conquérant.

On les tue tous, on est un dieu."

-JEAN ROSTAND, _Pensées d'un biologiste_

Translation :

"Kill one man, and you are a murderer.

Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror.

Kill them all, and you are a god."

* * *

This Chapter's Theme song:

The rolling stones – "Paint it black"

* * *

The fortunate tortoise hotel was a glamorous place, the reception area alone had fine silk resting over marbled flooring and a golden chandelier towering above beautifully carved stairs leading to the second floor. The sound of the group's footsteps varied despite the exact same surface as they headed up to the princess's room. It took them a short while to arrive at Shale's penthouse suite and upon arrival, the room's visitors didn't fail to notice the three samurai who were passed out, a bottle of sake toppled over on the table that was crushed between the three. Rather than remark upon the oddity, both Kamen and Kakashi ignored it, to the genin's slight dismay.

The young princess sat down gruffly upon a large comfy looking chair that had been purposefully placed in front of a smallish desk, cluttered by several papers, books and maps, "So then, shinobi of Konoha, when will we be departing for my home?"

Kakashi stepped forwards, letting the rest of his group hang back as he bowed slightly, "That is entirely up to Shale-sama. We are entirely at your service, but first, would you not like to confirm we are indeed who we say we are?"

The young princess sighed irately, nodding before outstretching one of her tiny arms, in which was placed a sealed scroll that she proceeded to carelessly break open. The young girl's cerulean eyes scanned the paper with practised ease before tossing it over to Lisandra, who struggled to catch the flying object, "It does seem to be in order but double check it for me would you? Now then, I'll need some time to prepare before we can leave but it won't take more than ten minutes once those three louts are up. I assume you've already got a route planned for us?"

The white-haired scarecrow, finding it harder and harder to maintain his diplomatic act when faced with such an uncaring and peculiar attitude, pulled out another scroll from one of the pouches of his vest, unfurling it before her. The map was focused around the land of wind and of fire, a twisting and turning red line heading from two red dots with black words inscribed above them, Otafuku Gai and Ren'ai Fuun. One of the young girl's eyebrows rose as she switched her gaze from the map before her to the group of people stood awkwardly in her room, her form relaxing back in her throne-like chair, "You mean to take us through the land of rain? Would that not add several days to our trip? Comparatively we could take a straight line through the land of rivers, could we not?"

Kakashi flinched slightly, though only Kamen noticed it. With how the young princess had been acting, Kakashi had obviously not been expecting the young girl to be so perceptive and that had left him unprepared. Shale was, after all, nothing less than the daughter of a noble of the land of wind, who were known for being shrewd if nothing else.

This fact had never been as evident as in present times, when most missions from the capital or elsewhere across the land of wind were being redirected away from Sunagakure itself. The land of wind's Daimyo did not think little of Suna shinobi, rather he grew afeared of them and their influence. Before the current Daimyo had taken his seat in the capital's castle, Sunagakure had grown so powerful that it started to act out on its own, ignoring the Daimyo's decrees. But now the village was a shadow of its former self, the third great war had made a big enough dent in its forces and the betrayal of a handful of its most powerful shinobi in the following years had not been kind to it either. So desperate was the fourth Kazekage that his men had begun to raid surrounding villages and countries that had once been its source of income, there was that and the fact that Rasa had begun to collaborate with a minor hidden village that had recently popped up across the continent.

Kakashi quickly caught himself, straightening back up before looking down at the princess with his single black eye, "My lady, you must understand that there has been a lot of talk of missing-nin and a high concentration of reported caravans being attacked by bandits. It would be much more prudent to pass through the land of Rain which, despite Amegakure's current isolationist policy, is much safer-"

Shale's eyes suddenly narrowed pointedly at the white-haired shinobi before her, her pristine lips curving downwards, "Your contract is that of a B-ranked mission is it not? We provided the pay for a mission that might involve enemy shinobi and expect to get the correct service. I don't expect you to cut corners, Hatake-san."

Kakashi wanted to curse under his breath, this brat was much sharper than he had originally given her credit for… In the back of his mind a little insurgent part blamed his Hokage for this situation, but the rest of his mind beat it down like it had been thoroughly trained to, "Of course, I was simply trying to avoid putting my lady into any unnecessary danger-" "Yes, well we will pass through the land of rivers and that is final. Now get out while I prepare for the trip. It should take about a week, correct? Good. Now out!"

The young whirlwind of a girl quickly jumped from her seat and shoved the group of shinobi out of her quarters, leaving them to stand slightly dumbfounded in the Hotel's corridor. Kamen was the first to recover from the girl's peculiar attitude, "Well… That was certainly something… I've never met a noble that was so…" "Crazy?" "I was going to say erratic, Naruto… You'll find out soon enough that there are plenty of crazy nobles out there… Just not quite like this one…"

It wasn't long before Shale's three samurai guards stepped out of the room and took their positions around the doorway, waiting for their princess to depart. Kamen was already beginning to think how much of a pain working with Samurai was going to be.

Kamen had nothing in particular against Samurai, especially those from the land of Iron. How could he after all that Mifune and his soldiers had done for the five great nations at the beginning of the war, going so far as to sacrifice a vast majority of his men to give them a chance to take down Madara and the Juubi… Those lives had been wasted as the attempt failed, but perhaps it mattered little, those that didn't have the skills strongly tied to the role of Shinobi perished either way in the end. Well, except perhaps one.

No, it wasn't the fact that these people were Samurai that bothered Kamen. It was rather their eyes that made his gut register just exactly what these people were. The three guards wore heavy yellow plated armour that covered almost every inch of their body save the inside of their arms, rear of their legs and their faces, which were instead covered by cloths that had been stretched from one side of their rounded steel helmets to the other.

Three pairs of piercing eyes were the only things that were not concealed on these people and they expressed only two things: arrogance and death. Those eyes reminded the dark-haired time traveller far too much of his own, though that time had long passed… At least that was what he told himself.

Naruto shifted his attention from his teammates who he had been 'chatting' with, as in he talked and they listened listlessly, to the people who had just entered the hallway. The young genin's bright blue eyes lit up with glee as he spotted the sheaths that rested at the Samurai's hips, "Ne, Ne, Kamen-sensei how come that one has two swords?"

Kamen sweat dropped as he glanced back at a depressed Kakashi, the man disliked being asked questions and yet when his students asked someone else, he couldn't stand it.

Bringing his attention back to Naruto and the Samurai with two swords, the twenty-five-year-old veteran brought a hand up to frame his chin in thought.

He had once learnt a considerable amount about kenjutsu, and even wielded a sword for a while. Why use up chakra or the effort needed to wield a kunai on Zetsu fodder when a katana did the trick ten times as nicely. Of course, that had been before the fifth year of the war, when Madara had begun supplying his infinite army with armour and weapons. This of course meant that digging through his memories took a short while.

Kamen hoped that sifting through his memories would get easier the more he did it, but realistically, he doubted it as they continued to grow foggier by the day, "I believe she practises a form of Kenjutsu called Nitojutsu, the method of wielding two swords. It is slightly surprising though; most Samurai tend to avoid it because it's seen as being more in line with the Shinobi arts. In fact several ninja swordsmen of the mist utilise this style of fighting, some of their swords being designed specifically for it, such as Hiramekarei, Kabutowari and Kiba, not that I'd call Kabutowari a set of blades… Kumo has also been know to practise Nitojutsu, instilling it in quite a few of its Kenjutsu users, mainly because it pairs well with lighting release."

All the time that Kamen had been speaking to Naruto, all ears had been on him, a recurring theme whenever the black clad veteran spoke, not that he necessarily noticed.

The Samurai with the two swords shifted awkwardly, eyes darting from side to side as though they wanted to say something but held their tongue. A slight glance towards one of the other Samurai was all the person needed to settle down, resuming their cold and somewhat empty stare, though perhaps with less intensity than before.

Ten minutes passed in relative peace and quiet, what with Naruto's curiosity satisfied. Though him confusing Kiba Inuzuka for a pair of swords had been rather priceless, at least for many of the gathered people. Kamen didn't like to think of team eight, of their young innocent versions running around… Not when he knew what the future would bring… _Had_ brought…

At last the young princess stepped out of her quarters alongside her temporary guardian. Gone was the messy pink and green dress, instead she wore somewhat tight black clothes with a travel cloak over the top which prioritised ease of movement and comfort over fashion, "Well? Are we going or are we going?"

And with that Shale lead the way, though she was swiftly caught up to by her guard. Without even exchanging words it was decided that the Samurai would be at the front of the formation surrounding Lisandra and Shale while team seven and their plus one hung at the back and sides of the haphazard diamond formation.

Kakashi matched his pace to those around him while still making sure he could just about hold a somewhat discreate conversation with Kamen, "So, you know your swords then?"

Kamen threw a glance back at his sensei from another time, an eyebrow raised in curiosity, "I was quite attracted to the idea of wielding one for a time, but I don't think I would be any good with a sword these days."

Kakashi treaded down upon the dirt path of one of the main streets of Otofuku Gai, his single exposed eye gazing down at the small dust tornadoes left behind by the heavy footsteps of the Samurai up front, "You seemed to have taken more than a passing interest, not many know much about the Seven ninja Swordsmen Of the Mist these days, even less about their blades which are considered Kiri treasures."

A slight frown marred Kamen's brow, though Kakashi couldn't see it from his position at the rear, not that he was particularly trying to spot it. Kamen didn't really know where this was going but so far, each time Kakashi had seemed curious about Kamen's knowledge, the conversation seemed to turn into an interrogation, "Well, you might say I had the _privilege _to see some of them in action during the Third Great Shinobi War… I can tell you that I didn't feel as much admiration nor intrigue towards the blades and their wielders after that. But why are you so curious Kakashi? A fan yourself?"

Kamen wasn't lying, he had had the privilege to see all the seven swordsmen of the mist from the third great shinobi war's generation in action… It's just it had been during the fourth great shinobi war, as reincarnated slaves.

The last part might have been said with a tone laced with sarcasm, but Kamen was in fact curious about what Kakashi thought about the swordsmen from mist. They hadn't had much chance to talk about it, neither after defeating Zabuza for the first time, nor after their second run in with the mist swordsmen.

Kakashi's eyes flickered away from Kamen's backwards gaze, something that wasn't missed by the midnight blue eyed man. The one eyed ex-Anbu wasn't sure how to say what he wanted to say, after all his information wasn't confirmed in any way, but he had a habit of picking up titbits of news here and there… One of them not being very encouraging about a certain place in the land of rivers, a place that they would certainly have to pass by, "No, no… I'm not a fan… it's just that I heard a… Disturbing rumour…"

Kamen's eyebrow rose, Kakashi's attitude was beyond peculiar. What could make the usually laid-back man so hesitant? Kamen tried to think of something but couldn't put his finger on anything, so he pushed onwards, "A rumour? About what?"

The sound of the bustling town was now only a background noise as the group passed its border, entering the slightly darkened forest. The genin were suddenly much more on edge, perhaps still holding some sour memories from their encounter with Zabuza and the demon brothers. A sigh passed Kakashi's lips as he steeled his resolve, "The reason I wanted to know what you knew about the seven swordsmen of the mist is because one of them has supposedly taken over the Katabami gold mine in the land of rivers. Not even a week ago, a group calling themselves the Kurosuki family set up there and I can't be sure, but their rule isn't one that's welcome."

Kamen suddenly had a memory flash through his mind like a bolt of lightning, Raiga Kurosuki. The man's crazed eyes and dark greenish hair as well as the young boy he had travelled with, Ranmaru. There was also Karashi and Grandma Sancho, with the Curry of life shop. A slightly fond smile crossed Kamen's face as he thought of that place, but it didn't last for long.

If their current group encountered the Kurosuki family now… The changes to the future would be minimal but… Kiba, the twin lightning fangs of the mist… If he could take them and keep them safe wouldn't that avoid a lot of trouble later- No… Kamen refused to make an infinite number of his selves repeat this hellish disaster, it would end with him and his younger self, "I'm not sure what you're so worried about Kakashi, your mission isn't to fight this Kurosuki family, besides what are the chances that you run into them?"

Kakashi frowned, it would leave a bad taste in his mouth if he just let Raiga and his thugs keep oppressing a town when he would have the chance to stop it… But Kamen was right, their mission was to protect Shale and that was it… Still…

The trip to the border of the land of fire was uneventful but surprisingly fast. It was impressive how three samurai wearing heavy armour, an old woman and a young princess could move so swiftly.

However once the group of ten had passed the border there was a sort of domino affect in terms of tension. Kakashi was the first to be on edge, which was noticed by Kamen, then the genin who picked up on the subtle changes of their unofficial sensei and finally the Samurai who could practically smell the anxiety emanating off the children.

When the group finally spotted a lone building off in the distance, Shale spoke out, almost unwittingly snapping the highly strung tension that invaded the air, "The Curry of life shop? I could settle with a belly full of curry right now!"

Kamen sweat dropped at Shale's return to her nonchalant attitude, however his whole body suddenly stiffened when an ear-piercing shout echoed out from within the confines of the small wooden hut, the wind carrying it past their forms. The whole group suddenly sped up; their fatigue long forgotten as Kamen spotted a tinge of worry upon the young princess's face.

The Samurai were the first through the sliding door, poised to strike with their Katana, though from the rear the shinobi could see them visibly slouch at the peculiar scene that greeted them, "Oh my-my, so many young people coming to my shop in one day, how unusual."

Kamen could just about see over the broad armoured shoulders of one of the Samurai and he couldn't help but falter in his stride at what he saw. A young boy dressed in green and orange with a Konoha headband wrapped around his waste with a bowl cut and rather thick eyebrows was stuffing his face full of some sort of black curry, if it could even be called that with all the peculiar ingredients sticking out of it. Kakashi was the first to speak, though his tone sounded almost afraid, "One of Guy's students? What are you doing out- no, wait…? If you're here, that means-" "WHERE IS MY PRECIOUS STUDENT?!"

At that a green blur came barrelling through the crowd of gathered shinobi and samurai, skidding to a halt before the young green clad genin. It was unnerving for the Samurai and genin to see a bigger clone of the young genin appear, clad in almost identical spandex clothing, though they were only more disturbed when the two embraced, streams of tears coming out of their eyes, "GUY-SENSEI!" "LEE! I HAD THOUGHT SOME HARM MIGHT HAVE COME TO YOU!" "I AM FINE GUY-SENSEI, THANKS TO THESE TWO WONDERFUL PEOPLE!"

Kamen almost wanted to wince at the loudness of their voices but thought better to interrupt the pair as they profusely thanked who Kamen knew were Grandma Sancho and her son Karashi.

It didn't take long for Guy to notice Kakashi even though he was trying his best to sink into the woodworks and hide behind a little orange book which he had retrieved from his pocket, "If it isn't my eternal rival! Kakashi, what might you be doing out here? And it seems you are on a mission, would it not be better to be preparing your fine young students for the chunin exams, just as I am mine? Surely you don't wish to lose to me once again, I believe we're at 47 to 48 now are we not?"

Kakashi peaked out from behind his copy of make-out paradise, a listless look tinting his black eye, and though it had seemed like he hadn't been listening he answered, "You mean 48 to 48, you're forgetting our bout in Kusa."

The tall green man almost slithered his way into Kakashi's personal space and slapped him on the back, laughing heartily all the while, "It would seem you are as sharp as ever, my eternal rival! Hmm, but who might this be?"

Kamen felt slightly awkward under the curious piercing black gaze of Guy, but still answered, "I am Kamen Sakamoto, A pleasure to meet you… Guy?"

Guy flashed from Kakashi to Kamen, who had to resist the battle-hardened instinct to stab him in the gut, "Ha! But would you not be a fan of Kakashi? You look just like him when he was in Anbu!"

Both Sasuke and Sakura took note of the fact that Guy had just stated, Naruto did as well though he did so in an off-handed manner. The young blonde was not one to care much for the past, instead focusing on the future, namely his position as Hokage, "Come on Guy, he's with us as sanctioned by the Hokage himself. Instead why don't you tell me where the rest of your team is? Surely you wouldn't be showing favouritism to young Lee over there?"

Another guttural laugh echoed out of Guy as he stepped away from Kamen, apparently both Jonin had noticed the dark-haired man's aversion to physical contact, "Of course not! Me and Lee were simply doing a little Marathon, though both Neji and Tenten thought it better to train on their own… They said that my methods did not suit them…"

Sad tears had started to build in the corner of the man's eyes, but they were quickly wiped away dramatically. The green clad man was suddenly interrupted by a slight cough, coming from the small elderly woman, "Yes well, my name is Grandma Sancho, and this is my curry shop. Now are all of you going to stand around letting all the cold in or are you going to sit down and order something?"

It was only then that everyone noticed that Lee was already sat at one of the tables, ordering twelves plates of the bubbling black curry of life. Kamen almost wanted to stop the boy, but a very distant memory from his youth reminded him that it had been a very delicious curry.

The group started to sit around different tables, not one being big enough for them all. In a strange twist of fate Kamen found himself sat at a table with Shale and two of her samurai. Meanwhile Lee, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were all sat at the same table and Kamen could just about make out their conversation, namely Lee admiring Sakura's beauty and Naruto attempting to divert the conversation as best he could. Though Kakashi was out of his sight he could feel his slightly warm presences behind one of the wooden partings put up for each customer's privacy, with him was one of the samurai, Guy and Lisandra, "You seem slightly uncomfortable… Kamen-san, wasn't it?"

Kamen's focus directed itself towards the young long-haired princess, her dirty blond locks tied up in a haphazard ponytail. The two Samurai guards on either side of him shifted slightly, the one with two swords keeping an especially close eye on the time traveller, "Yes, you are quite sharp Princess. Though do not take it as a lack of respect towards yourself or your bodyguards. I am merely worried about staying in one place for too long."

Cerulean eyes glistened slightly as they scanned the masked man's face, true Shale was indeed perceptive for a girl of her age, but Kamen was above her in every possible way. Which was why she settle for the answer that he gave, believing it whole heartedly to be true. Kamen almost felt bad managing to pass off a lie with such ease, yet at the same time it was a nice change from Kakashi, who was sharper than a kunai. In truth Kamen was rife with inner conflict at the moment, the part of himself wanting to change the future had grown tenfold in the short time that he had been with team seven, though it did not yet outweigh the time traveller's much more rational side.

Karashi hovered around the room, going from table to table with practised ease as he deftly placed a plate of curry before each person. Finally, when there was a plate set out before each person, a pervasive silence settled. The black bubbling mess of spices and strange ingredients was anything but appetising and yet as soon as Lee and Guy dug into the substance with an inordinate amount of Gusto, swiftly followed by their proclamations of how good it was, each person slowly guided a spoon into their mouths.

The reactions from each person was varied, from passing out to practically spitting flames from their mouths. Kamen couldn't help but laugh as he watched one of the Samurai freeze on the spot, legs crossed and eyes shadowed, the image reminding him of the tale of the _"Standing Death of Benkei"_, a story passed down through generations of Samurai since the warring states era.

The samurai with two swords stood up on shaky legs and drew their weapons, struggling to point them at Karashi who simply cowered with both hands raised, "Y-you! What h-have y-you done? Y-you poisoned the princess!"

The voice that came out from under the helmet was strained and muffled, yet Kamen could tell that it was that of a woman, no matter how she tried to conceal it. Before she could slice Karashi's head off however, the female samurai collapsed back into her seat.

Kakashi peaked his head over the parting just in time to see Kamen calmly finish off his plate of curry, his pale skin slightly pinker than usual. It was strange how the nostalgic flavour of the black goop almost brought a tear to the dark haired man's eyes, as said orbs glistened into a sort of mild shade of sapphire blue, "How the hell can you eat that stuff without flinching Kamen?"

Said man looked up to see the white-haired scarecrow slumped over the partition, the visible bits of his skin as pink as Sakura's hair. A quick glance revealed that the only people still conscious after having eaten the curry of life were Lee, Naruto, Guy, Kakashi and himself. It was ridiculous how such a food could have such varying degrees of affects. Guy, Kakashi and himself could be explained by the fact that they were well trained shinobi, resistant to even some deadly poisons. Even Naruto's survival to this toxic stuff could be explained by the nine tails, but Lee? Perhaps it was his sheer strength of will.

Or maybe this curry really was the curry of life? Kamen could feel that his chakra was slightly more stimulated than usual, in fact he felt as though he had enough energy to run a marathon. Kamen hadn't felt this good since before the war had started, "This stuff is just really good, I guess? I'll have another serving if you don't mind Grandma Sancho!"

The sound of the old lady chuckling loudly as Lee, Naruto and Guy both echoed the time traveller's sentiment was the soothing kind, one that made you feel as though she actually was their grandmother, which was probably where the nickname came from, "All of you young ones are welcome to stay the night as long as you don't mind sleeping on some pillows, those others probably aren't going to be up by the morning anyways!"

Grandma Sancho's proposition was swiftly accepted given that even with Naruto's shadow clones, the trip to the closest hotel was still a long one. Not surprisingly when all the unconscious members of the group had been set into adequate sleeping positions, both Lee and Naruto went out like a pair of lights themselves.

Though Kakashi and Kamen were wishing to do the same, Guy would have none of it and had managed to embroil the pair into a game of Tarot. The game itself was rather simple and could be played from two up to five, though it was rarely played in the land of fire, instead shogi was a favourite there. Tarot was rather more a speciality of the land of earth, "Drat! It would seem our youthful friend here has beaten us again!"

Kakashi was sat with a hand scratching the top of his head trying to understand just how Kamen kept winning, no matter what he or Guy did. The white-haired scarecrow stopped short of using his sharingan to check if his opponent was using a genjutsu, and that was only thanks to Guy calling it quits with a, "Right then, that makes it 0-19 my temporary rival!"

Kamen awkwardly scratched the back of his head as he threw a glance out of the nearest window, "Have we really played nineteen matches? It feels like we only started playing a few seconds ago…"

It wasn't new for Kamen to be so at ease in other people's company, he had been able to relax around a great many people once upon a time. But this was the first time in a long time that he felt his guard begin to melt away, maybe it was just something about Guy's honesty that set his mind at ease, just as Lee's had once as well.

All three men settled onto their makeshift beds, each still glowing from the warmth of the curry of life. Slowly but steadily Kamen's mind went blank as he stared off into the ceiling, his eyelids softly shutting upon themselves as the flavours that still danced upon the tip of his tongue lulled him to sleep.

Elsewhere, within the darkness of the Katabami gold mine, dozens of shadows gathered. A single, hunched back figure stood before them all, lightning crackling all around it. The room was dead silent as the person at the centre of attention rose both arms up into the air as though he were calling out to the starry sky, "Brothers and sisters! This place is rife with sinners! ... But we must not feel anger or hatred towards these poor souls! Just like the town's council, they need our light to guide them! And should any of them refused to be guided… Should they refuse to repent like those who have come before them! … Then it is with heart wrenching sadness that we must send them off to the next word, to meet with our lord and be cleansed by his light!" "Raiga-sama! Show us the way! Guide us with your brilliant light so that we may not be lost!"

The crowd gathered under the cover of darkness cheered towards their leader, who was clutching at his face, a look of despair painting its surface as tears ran out of his eyes, "We have faced off against Greed and won! The taxes of the vicious Daimyo are no more! By putting all on the same level, we have crushed Envy! Pride is no more! The townsfolk no longer have any worldly possessions to be prideful of! Their hearts are no longer afflicted by Lust as we have taken away their women!"

The crowd before Raiga grew closer and closer to ecstasy at each word the missing-nin uttered, however the ruckus suddenly cut of when lightning began bouncing around the rocky clearing they had gathered in, "And yet! … And yet, brothers and sisters, gluttony, sloth and wrath! These three final sins still plague the land! Tomorrow we shall burn gluttony at the stake! The so-called blasphemous curry of life shop shall be no more!"

The cheers and hollers echoed out within the valley of the Katabami gold mine, villagers cowering in their homes as the cries passed them by like the shrill cries of ghosts.

Despite what was going on without Kamen's knowledge, his sleep was uninterrupted and peaceful. Not a nightmare dared disturb his rest, not a sombre thought invaded his mind. Instead his sleep was graced by distant and faded memories of three children, laughing together as they walked behind a tall man who simply looked back, the corner of his eye crinkling from his concealed smile.

The dark-haired time traveller awoke from his slumber feeling more rested than he had in as long as he could remember, even though he probably only slept five or six hours. He was the first of the group of twelve to rise, greeted by the sweet yet spicy scent that hung in the air, "One and Two and One and Two."

The soft sound of Grandma Sancho's voice coming from the kitchen was blended together with the sound of a wooden ladle hitting the side of a large metal pot. Kamen absently drifted towards the counter which separated the kitchen from the area currently filled with sleeping customers.

He settled soundlessly upon a stool at the counter and yet Grandma Sancho still heard him, turning around to nod at the dark-haired veteran, "Sleep, well did you? I'm sorry I couldn't provide better accommodation for you young uns… Me and Karashi had been planning on renovating the place once we got the funds… Recent events have made that a little difficult however."

A slight wave of guilt passed over Kamen, but he got over it quickly, feigning ignorance, "Oh? Are you not getting many customers these days?"

The repetitive and soothing sound of the elderly woman stirring her curry suddenly halted. Sancho's shoulders sagged as her eyes stared sadly into the golden-brown liquid that filled her pot, "That's a part of it… But it's all because of that goddamned Kurosuki family!"

The sound of the young war veteran and the old woman had apparently woken some other occupants of the room, one of which was Shale who had walked right up next to Kamen and settled down upon a stool, "Why don't you-" "Hire some ninja? No one has the money since those crooks arrived and pillaged everything in sight. We sent a missive to three Daimyo but never received a response from any of them…"

Kamen threw a glance at the young dirty blonde-haired girl. The sad look that crossed Shale's cerulean eyes and her small hand that clutched at the fabric of her black clothing out of frustration, both of these things caused a twinge in Kamen's heart. For a second Kamen could have sworn that the child's eyes were light green and that her hair bore a tint of pink, but he blinked, and the illusion was gone.

Kamen would never know if what came next had been his mind slipping into madness or simply that he had still been half asleep, but at the time he couldn't take back his words, "It's your decision my lady, but I'm certain that team seven and your samurai could handle these thugs with ease."

Grandma Sancho turned fully from her pot, a slight frown gracing her brow, "We have nothing to pay you."

The blunt statement was true, and as much as Shale or anyone else wanted to help, in this world none of them could act without affecting the people who were above them. Well except perhaps Kamen, "Perhaps you have nothing now, but Katabami gold mine's potential is infinite. I'm certain that if your village should accept to set up a trade route between both Ren'ai Fuun and the hidden leaf village, the trade-off will be perfectly acceptable."

Both Shale and Grandma Sancho pause for a second, trying to weigh the pros and cons of the deal.

If Katabami set up such a trade route it wouldn't only bring in the trade from Ren'ai Fuun and Konoha, it would do much more. Both parties involved would create a route which would have caravans and their shinobi guards passing through on a regular basis, clearing a safe passage between the land of Wind and Fire. One such passage between the two countries has been missing so far. This would mean that the entirety of the land of fire and of wind would have a safe trade route between each other, in turn bringing more caravans and shinobi, which means more foot traffic for Katabami and more profit. Either way all three participants are winners.

Kakashi who was pretending to still be asleep had been listening in on the conversation and wasn't quite sure what to think. From what the white-haired scarecrow knew of Kamen, it was entirely plausible that he had thought out meticulously the pros and cons of helping Katabami gold mine now rather than later.

Contrary to what people might think, the citizens of Katabami were at their most desperate right now. The longer they waited to help them, the more they would be engulfed in despair and be resigned to their fate. So, acting now would gain them the most recognition, not to mention all the political and economic boons it would bring if they accepted the deal.

But there were more than just a few things nagging at Kakashi's mind. _"I'm not sure what you're so worried about Kakashi, your mission isn't to fight this Kurosuki family, besides what are the chances that you run into them?" "I'm certain that team seven and your samurai could handle these thugs with ease."_

He hadn't included himself in either of those phrases… Not only that but Kamen's words and actions all contradicted each other; he was -in short- a mess. Kakashi had already seen the veteran's darker side.

It was as though Kamen refused to take action when he wasn't directly confronted with a situation, but he couldn't hold himself back when push came to shove. He didn't want to intervene, but why? There was the ever-present possibility that he was just a coward… But the last Hatake couldn't quite convince himself of that, despite not having anything concrete to prove the opposite.

"OI! If you filthy sinners don't come out right now, we'll burn this place to the goddamn ground!"

Grandma Sancho swore under her breath, but before the last syllable even left her lip Kamen, Kakashi and Guy -two of which had seemed to be fast asleep not a few seconds ago- were now positioned at the windows of the shop of the curry of life, "I can see three of them, my eternal rival, are there any more hidden somewhere?"

Kakashi raised his nose into the air and closed his eyes. Though his nose wasn't as good as an Inuzuka, Kakashi didn't lag that far behind them thanks to his mastery of enhancing it with chakra, "I can smell two others, each on either side of the building." "Make that four others, there are two more behind the building with the wind blowing their scents away."

Kakashi flashed a look at Kamen who was staring intently at the people outside. Neither the frown that marred his brow nor the slight tremor of his hand was missed by Kakashi, but the ex-Anbu didn't think now was the time to have a pity party.

The samurai who were now awake closed in on the entrance, not caring to try and be quiet, and before any of the Shinobi could stop them, the trio burst out of the shop, the sliding door slamming open within the eerie silence, "Lady Shale of Ren'ai Fuun, daughter of Ozymandias the great is currently staying at this establishment! Should you dare to threaten her or the people who have shown her their hospitality, then you will face our blades!"

The front samurai's words were emphasised by the sound of metal scraping against metal as their katana were drawn from their hilts. Two of the men before them, who were clad in all black begun to laugh ominously.

Kamen couldn't help but feel as though a stone was weighing down his stomach at that laugh. One of the chakra signatures out front that had seemed exactly the same as the rest suddenly flared and was replaced with two other, much more ominous signatures. Kamen turned to warn Kakashi only for the white-haired man to nod, "I know… I can _feel_ it too. The bastard obviously likes to make an entrance."

At this point everyone was gathered around the windows, peering out at the scene before them, "You know who that is, don't you Kamen?"

Said man swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded. Perhaps Raiga had been defeated by the very blonde that stood a few steps behind him, but there had been a big difference between the Naruto of then and the Naruto of now.

At that time, Naruto had the Rasengan and had been through more than his fair share of dangerous fights. He had also had Neji's byakugan backing him up… Right now, there was no way that they could counteract Raiga's hidden mist jutsu, nor could they avoid Ranmaru's eyes…

"What the hell is going on sensei?"

Kakashi looked back at his sleepy students, giving them an eye smile that didn't show a hint of the worry he felt, "Don't worry my cute little genin, there are just some bad guys that your super sensei is going to take care of!"

Naruto sweat dropped at his cheesy sensei, but before he could blurt out a retort of some kind, his attention was drawn back outside, "But who might this be? Samurai in the land of rivers, a little far from home, aren't we? I'm sorry if my brothers and sisters offended you in some way. But you really shouldn't get in the way of the missionaries of GOD!"

A thunderous clap exploded out from where the voice came and suddenly everything seemed to slow down. A heavily armoured body came crashing through the wall of the shop, splinters exploding everywhere, Kamen was frozen in place as he watched Kakashi use some sort of wind Jutsu to protect everyone from the medley of shrapnel -made up of broken wall and armour- that would have rained over them.

Kamen hated what was going on, he could have reacted to that… _Should have… _And yet his feet stayed rooted to the ground. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his body and yet the more he felt it the less he could move. He was barely able to bring a hand up to clutch at the pain that blossomed in his chest.

"Masato!"

Shale was slumped over the body of the person who had crashed through the wall, tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to cover the hole that had pierced his abdomen.

Kamen barely managed to see both Guy and Kakashi rush outside, swiftly followed by Lee and team seven as the sound of steel meeting steel resounded outside.

The young veteran couldn't take it anymore as his knees crashed to the ground, his ragged breathing tearing its way out of his throat like burning magma.

The metallic smell that tainted the air pierced his nostrils as he barely managed to hold back the gagging.

The whole world seemed to spin as his mind gradually couldn't keep up with what was going on around him. Suddenly darkness engulfed him.

_Blood. Death. The sound of battle. The sound of grief. Children fighting. All that while he knelt there. Doing nothing. He was doing nothing. Again. He stood by as others died in his place. But this time… There was a reason… Wasn't there?_

"_I'm right aren't I? This pain… This sorrow… This is all justifiable… Right? As long as I don't step in… The paradox can be avoided?"_

"_**Naruto… You foolish little pup… If I had known this is what would happen… I would have never…" **_

"_Kurama? Is that you?"_

_Silence. _

"_Am I… Am I going mad?"_

"_**Ha kid, you were mad a long time ago!"**_

"_Jiraiya?"_

_Silence. _

"_Is some sort of punishment?"_

"_**Maa, my cute little Naruto… You know better than anyone that it is."**_

"_K-Kakashi… Why?"_

_Silence._

"_What… What did I ever do? Is there some reason that I had to live through nine years of war?! Why did I have to watch everyone I ever cared for die?! WHY?!"_

_Silence… And then;_

_A figure, standing tall, his back seeming so broad and blindingly bright in the darkness. The spikey blonde hair atop his head fluttering around, almost like the red flames that hung on his cloak. The white cloak hung on his back, but it wasn't embroidered with what Kamen had been expecting. _

_**Seventh Hokage.**_

"_I don't… There wasn't ever a seventh Hokage… Wait… Wasn't I going to be the-"_

_Kamen was cut off as the figure turned around._

"_**That's right. I'm you Kamen. I'm Naruto."**_

_Black eyes with a red iris stared into dark blue. _

"_I don't…" _

"_**Oh, I think we do. We've done this before after all."**_

"_The falls of truth."_

_A soft yet sharp smile crossed Naruto's lips. _

"_**So, we still remember? We have a better memory than we give ourselves credit for."**_

_Kamen stared up at himself, blinking several times._

"_We?"_

"_**Of course. We both know that we are one… And yet neither of us accepts it… Not anymore…"**_

"_I don't-"_

"_**It's funny. Our roles are reversed this time… Or rather it's sad… You don't even realise it though… Which makes it even sadder. You cast aside everything that makes Naruto, Naruto… Including his very name."**_

"_I had to…"_

"_**You had to? It's out of your hands? Nothing can be done? You sicken me. I hate the fact that you are me. Don't you remember when you fought Neji because he was caged by his idea of fate? When you stood up to Tsunade because she was wallowing in self-pity? When you faced down Sasuke because of his stubbornness? When you stood up for Jiraiya's beliefs in the face of Nagato?"**_

_Kamen's gaze turned away from Naruto's figure, instead focusing in on the Darkness._

"_I-… All of that was washed away by a tidal wave of blood."_

_Naruto's brightness didn't flicker in the cumbersome darkness, if anything it grew brighter as he sneered at Kamen. _

"_**Washed away? What you are can't simply be washed away! Everyone who died for you, for the future to come… You don't care an ounce about them, do you?"**_

_Rage welled up from within Kamen, a hatred so hot, one he hadn't felt for a long time. His eyes were bloodshot as his chakra coated fist lashed out towards the figure before him, flames of red chakra even brighter than Naruto's golden aura followed it. And yet the blonde Hokage dodged out of the way with ease and brought an open palm to clap against Kamen's face, like a giant swinging a fly swat. _

Suddenly Kamen found himself back in the curry of life shop. Naruto was stood before him, his hand hanging in the air as if he had just struck something. The slight twinge of pain Kamen felt in his left cheek told him exactly what the young genin had struck.

The small blonde before him wasn't frowning but he wasn't smiling either, there was a sharp look in his eyes, and it was only when Kamen saw it that he realised how beaten up the young boy looked.

Kamen came to his senses, flashing a look around the curry of life shop. It had felt like only a few seconds had gone by and yet the store was a complete mess, tables and chairs strewn about the place with rubble and dust everywhere. The pot of curry Grandma Sancho had been working on was spilt over the floor and said woman along with her son and Shale were stood over the prone figures of Lee, Sakura and two Samurai, desperately trying to help them.

Kamen's gaze was suddenly pulled away by the sound of crackling lightning and fighting. His eyes fell upon three figures, Kakashi, Guy and the samurai with two swords.

The dark-haired time traveller barely caught Naruto as he collapsed into his arms. The veteran's well-trained ears could just about pick out the sound of fighting going on out back, which must have been where Sasuke was still fighting. A muffled voice reached his ears, the soft words coming from the blond jinchuriki in his arms, "K-Kamen-sensei… Why… Aren't you fighting? Are you all bark and no bite?"

The small blonde chuckled, causing him to cough slightly. From his singed jumpsuit, Kamen guessed he had tried to take on Raiga and got fried for the attempt.

It was strange. The way the blonde talked, it was as if he knew why Kamen wasn't acting, or at least he thought he knew why. Perhaps he was more perceptive than he himself gave him credit for, "The hero's… Always gotta save the day at the last second you know?"

And with that the young blonde fell into unconsciousness, but even as he slipped away Kamen could feel the chakra of the Kyuubi starting its process, healing the cuts and bruises faster than he could find them, "Grandma! Take care of the kid… _I'm not a hero Naruto… But I can pretend... For you…_"

Kamen stepped out of the shop, dark clouds hung in the sky as they rained down upon those below, thunder lighting up the darkness, "My eternal rival, this seems impossible… How can this man trick your sharingan while also being able to dodge my blows of eternal youth?!"

Kakashi didn't bother to answer, his breath ragged. Raiga had been in control of the fight from the very beginning. Kakashi imagined that this is what it might have felt like facing off against the third Raikage's ultimate shield. Raiga's thunder amour was impossible to get past and for some reason his sharingan was being tricked by something, as soon as he activated it, he couldn't even see the battlefield, let alone the enemy.

A sudden wave of chakra washed over the small clearing in front of the shop, and yet it wasn't coming from Raiga. Even the samurai could feel it, "Oh my, what is this? Has Sloth finally arrived? A little late don't you think, You filthy sinner?!"

Kakashi looked back at Kamen and couldn't help but blink dumbly at what he saw. Kamen was stood, his silver armour reflecting the light coming from Raiga's lightning, but the dark colour of his clothes and hair seemed to radiate and flicker like black flames, "Kamen?"

Before anyone could react said dark haired man disappeared from where he was and reappeared right in front of Raiga, a fist cocked back and ready to strike forwards. But the crazed ex-mist shinobi's armour wasn't for show, and neither were his swords. He ducked under the fist and brought both his misshapen swords together, slashing at Kamen's stomach, who dodged by a hair's breadth. Or at least he thought he had.

The veteran winced slightly as he lowered his hand to his stomach without his eyes leaving the enemy before him. He could feel the warm sensation of blood coating his hand, a bright red gash slashed across his belly, "HA! HAHAHA! It looks like sloth was a little too slow for my blades!"

Kamen squinted at the blades that Raiga was holding. It wasn't any wonder Kakashi was having trouble, the blades had been infused with chakra, that was obvious, what wasn't was that he had also created almost invisible blades of chakra which surrounded Kiba.

Undeterred by the damage he had received he began forming seals, and though Raiga wasn't going to just let him cast a jutsu, he was halted in his assault by Guy who lashed out with a brutal kick.

Raiga barely managed to block the attack with his forearm, but thanks to his thunder armour it didn't break. Guy on the other hand was having a hard time, barely being able to stay stood out of sheer will power. Each time he struck Raiga, he was hit with the backlash of being in contact with his thunder armour.

But Guy had bought Kamen just enough time to finish his jutsu, "Wind release: Vacuum blade!"

And with that Kamen held his hands out as though he were holding a katana with both hands, yet there was nothing there, "HAHAHA! Sloth! You really are the incarnation of Sloth! You can't even finish a single Jutsu you filthy Heathen!"

Kamen ignored the nonsense that the man before him was spouting, instead sharpening his mind on what was about to happen next. He could just about see the muscles in Raiga's legs tense underneath his thunder armour as he prepared to launch forwards.

Kamen breathed in and to those who were watching, it almost seemed as though Raiga was moving at a Snails pace compared to Kamen's swift movements as both dove towards each other.

Raiga dove forwards with a brutal jab, intent on turning Kamen into a kebab. However, the crazed man's eyes widened as his blades seemed to connect with something solid and most definitely not fleshy.

Kamen let his invisible blade slide along Raiga's until it reached the blades' thorns, at which point he brough the hilt of his see-through blade up so that its non-existent point was almost touching the ground. In one swift movement he brought the blade forwards, letting it slide along the side of Raiga's Kiba until it was inches away from the Kurosuki family leader's body, at which point he brought the blade upwards, intending to cut the black lipped man's right arm off.

Kamen's invisible blade cut through Raiga's thunder armour as though it were made of butter. The dark-haired man only just saved his arm by letting his body fall backwards before leaping away, an angry red gash left in the time traveller's wake.

Raiga's face was the picture of terror as his arm hung limply at his side, wide eyes turning back to look at Kamen, "YOU DARE HURT ONE OF THE CHOSEN?!"

Raiga's breath was ragged his eyes still wide and bloodshot, but Kamen stared him down without flinching, edging towards him slowly, his invisible katana pointed forwards. Kamen spotted Kakashi sneaking up on the missing nin a fraction too late to warn him as a shockwave of lightning erupted from the mist killer, flinging the white-haired shinobi back. Kamen only managing to hold his position by sticking his vacuum blade into the ground. The shockwave was swiftly followed by a tsunami of chakra filled mist which engulfed the entirety of the Curry of life shop and its surroundings, "KILL THE HEATHENS!"

Kamen closed his eyes, the whole world mapped itself out in his head as he let out pulses of chakra that worked as a sonar.

The dark-haired veteran was glad that Iruka had taught him the technique when he was still alive. Its effectiveness was slightly lessened by the chakra rich mist Raiga had set up, but he could still pick out the dozen people rushing towards him. Apparently Raiga had been holding some people back out of the range of Kamen's senses, most likely coincidentally.

"_Secret Sword Art: Hitodama!"_

Kamen's previously invisible sword suddenly began to melt into existence. Now held within the time traveller's grasp was a black katana which seemed to have bright red blood constantly running along its edge, each time the liquid splashed onto the ground it left behind scorch marks as black as the blade it came from.

A figure suddenly leapt towards him out of the mist, clawed gloves aimed at his head, but Kamen still held his eyes shut and therefore could feel the three others who were attacking him from different angles at the same time.

To anyone looking at the elegant swordsman it seemed as though he simply dragged the blade through the air in a single swipe, but in reality, it diverged and twisted, cutting each assailant's throat in an instant.

This time five Kurosuki family members attempted to impale the dark-haired man upon their claws only for their arms to be swiftly separated from their bodies.

Kakashi was fighting back to back with Guy, both struggling to hold off the number of enemies that were piling down upon them. Normally these weaklings would have been easy to handle, but the fact that they had been weakened by Raiga and that the sharingan was useless meant they were having a hard time of it.

The white-haired scarecrow hadn't noticed where the dual wielding samurai had disappeared to, but he didn't worry too much, she had seemed to hold her own even against Raiga so these goons probably wouldn't be life-threatening to her. Kamen on the other hand had him worried. The screams that were coming from his direction were sickening.

It was only when Guy and Kakashi heard the screaming finally stop that they spotted a bright red light approaching them through the mist. Before either could blink, Kamen was right before them. Said man spun around in a brutal circle, a red mist lagging behind his blade as he lashed out at the foes around him, his eyes still closed. As the brutal veteran came to a halt, the bodies of his enemies were the only things left in his wake.

"Come out Raiga! Your mist is useless, your arm is wounded, and all your minions are dead. Surrender now and I'll go easy on both you and the kid!"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow; unsure what Kamen was talking about. The silence seemed to stretch on until at last there was an answer as the mist slowly began to fade, "I don't know who you are… But it seems I made a mistake… You aren't sloth… No… YOU'RE WRATH!"

And like that Raiga came bursting out of what was left of the mist, swinging with both of his arms. Kamen barely managed to block in time, his body getting flung back by the brute strength of the double blow. Guy and Kakashi dodged out of the way of the flying veteran who dug his blade into the ground to slow down.

"_That crazy bastard's using electricity to stimulate his nerve endings!"_

Radiating dark blue eyes looked up towards their target, a sort of madness tainting them under the rage, "I gave you your chance Raiga. You can pass on to the next world knowing that Ranmaru will be looked after!"

And with that Kamen flew towards his target, the air pressure pushing his spiky hair back. The dark-haired swordsman brought his blade down in a large arc, slamming it into Raiga's crossed Kiba who's feet sunk into the ground at the pressure. To the crazed ex-anbu's credit he managed to push the heavy blow back, attempting to jab Kamen in the stomach only for the blades to be ruthlessly smashed to the side.

Guy was stood shaking slightly as he looked over to Kakashi. The white-haired man nodded with a slight frown, "You see it too, ne? This isn't a proper fight… Not like when Kamen first arrived… He's completely overwhelming his opponent…" _'Just how much has Kamen been holding back until now? Is this even his full strength? From what I've seen he only used one jutsu, even if his sword is different now, would it really make that much of a difference?'_

"For him to make Raiga sink into the ground like that… The strength behind that kind of blow… It's…" "Terrifying?" "AWE INSPIRING! I MUST FIND OUT WHAT HIS TRAINING REGIME IS!"

Kakashi sweat dropped, so he hadn't been trembling out of fear but excitement? After all, it was Guy. The white haired man was pulled from his thoughts as he saw Kamen slice upwards, under Raiga's guard, catching him across the eye, "AAAAh! YOU FUCKING HEATHEN! I WAS CHOSEN BY GOD! YOU'LL NEVER DEFEAT ME!"

Kamen had noticed the second he had laid eyes upon Raiga that there was something wrong. He was stronger than before and much more 'fanatic'. Sure enough, he was insane before but this time it was even worse, the time traveller barely understood half of what was coming out of his mouth.

Kamen took a deep breath as Raiga charged at him like a crazed bull. The blue-eyed veteran easily dodged to the side before bringing his blade forwards in a horizontal slash. The black and red blade carved its way into the missing nin's midsection, a horrid sizzling sound was accompanied by Raiga's screams, creating a symphony of dread.

"THEY LIED! HAHAHahah… haha… ha."

All the onlookers couldn't help but gaze on wordlessly at the brutal scene before them. The green grass and brown tree trunks were stained bright red and singed dark black in several places, the smell of blood, ozone and burnt flesh invading the clearing.

Kamen's breath was slow but ragged, his form rising and falling visibly as he struggled to stay awake. Suddenly the blade that he had been using as a crutch dissipated, turning into a black and red mist that gradually disappeared into the wind.

The sound of his knees thudding against the ground was the last thing Kamen heard as he slumped to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

That's the end of this chapter.

I'm about as dead tired as Kamen right now X_X… Ten thousand words and eighteen pages. I don't think I've ever written such a long, complicated, pain in the rear chapter.

I'm sorry it took so long everyone, and I hope that during these distressing times everyone is safe and at home, just as I am. Though surviving off canned beans and tomato soup is good and all, it doesn't feed the brain that much, so I think I'm gonna have to brave the elements and the inconsiderate soon enough!

Either way I hope you enjoyed, tell me what you think about the new Theme music section of the chapter. I think I'll keep it up if I find any songs that fit well with a chapter.

Anyways, I didn't keep my promise about the romance for this chapter, but I hope my delivery of the action is to your satisfaction. Next chapter is going to be a 50-follower special which contains a bit of both. It'll diverge a little from the plot and let me freshen up my ideas, but it'll be worth it… Trust me, I'm a fanfiction writer!


	9. Chapter 9- The Bleakest Of Times

**Chapter 9- The Bleakest Of Times**

* * *

"The true Soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him,

But because he loves what is behind him."

-G.K. Chesterton

* * *

This Chapter's Theme song:

Anson Seabra – "Broken"

* * *

A sprawling camp hid itself within the shadow of a valley. Despite the installation's size, not a single sound nor plume of smoke nor ray of light escaped from its perimeter. Dark green tents were lined up neatly like headstones in a graveyard, not one of them rustling to give away the possibility of anyone being inside.

A single figure walked under the dim light shed by the bone white moon that hung in the sky. The only proof that the shadow had even passed by were the incredibly light indents in the mud, ones that you would miss if you weren't looking for them. A long black cloak enveloped the figure from head to toe, concealing his every movement and characteristic.

Without giving a hint as to what it was going to do, the ant-like being suddenly dashed into one of the tents. The flap barely crinkled at its passage, "You finally made it dobe?"

Naruto scowled at his old teammate, team seven might have been back together for four years now but that didn't mean anything when their sensei had died not even two months ago, "Shut it Sasuke, I'm not in the fucking mood."

The raven haired Uchiha narrowed his eyes at the last Uzumaki, not missing the dark bags hanging under his eyes. Sasuke began again, without a hint of emotion in his voice, "Nightmares again?"

The early years of the war had been encouraging, but ever since Kakashi had died it just seemed to be death after death. Kakashi's demise had already been hard enough on the young blonde's psyche but when word of Konohamaru's death had reached him, the young blonde had begun to degenerate even further, shunning everything and everyone, "It doesn't matter… Now why the hell did you call us together Baa-chan?"

Team seven had become the de facto elite reserve force, the fact that Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto had been called to action together meant something big was going on. Tsunade, despite her 'strength of a hundred technique', was looking just as weathered by the war as everyone else.

Sasuke had long since given up on trying to stop his hair from growing. Meanwhile Sakura kept her hair extremely short and only let the length get to a certain extent on the top where it mattered little. All three of the soldiers of team seven wore the same clothes; a padded black shirt with cargo pants and steel tipped boots, over which they wore light weight silver armour and a black cloak. The only way they could be differentiated from each other were their headbands which no longer held the emblem for the hidden leaf village but instead were the official Allied Shinobi Forces headbands. Sakura's was a dark crimson, Sasuke's a navy blue and Naruto's a burnt orange.

As soon as Tsunade was certain all three of the people before her were pFaying attention she begun, "It has been confirmed by our scouting team that the enemy has begun building… Something. We're not sure what it is exactly, but it involves a lot of chakra conductive metal and electric parts, either way we _cannot_, under any circumstances allow the construction to follow through! You'll be meeting up with the scouting team at the given location, good luck and… get back here alive, understood?"

Sasuke scoffed before grabbing the scroll from Tsunade's outstretched hand, he flicked it open and closed in one swift movement, the activation of his sharingan barely perceptible to those around him. The last loyal Uchiha's exit was silent and swiftly followed by his teammates, leaving the aged Tsunade on her own in the tent.

As soon as she was sure the group had left, she slumped down into the uncomfortable chair of her makeshift command centre, dark brown eyes settling upon the papers and maps sprawled out before her. The last Senju grasped at a rugged and slightly cracked cup, sipping the horribly thick instant coffee that sat in it, relishing each and every drop.

Her eyes caught sight of one of the maps buried under the others, gently parting them with the back of her hand. It had once been a beautiful painting of Konoha from above, now it was marred by huge red circles with 'damaged' written over the top of them. The last time the map had even been touched had been when the word 'Abandoned' was inscribed at its top by a trembling hand that Tsunade recognised as her own, "Those kids… What the hell are they going to do with this world when I'm gone? We adults were meant to prepare it for them and then give them the task of doing the same for the next generation… Instead past mistakes have caught up to us and have ruined this beautiful place…"

Bitter winds and darkness didn't slow team seven's advance in the slightest, an almost invisible layer of chakra coating their bodies under the cloaks.

The cloaks they wore weren't just for show, Naruto had developed them at the beginning of the second year of the war with the help of the research and development team which he had spent most of his days with back then. The cloaks were multi-faceted and multi layered; they had five layers, three of which were extremely thin but durable chakra steel woven cloth, the other two were layers of paper encased by the cloth. The first paper layer, which was closest to the outside of the cloak, was a complex sealing array that completely hid the chakra of anything that was underneath it, even to a byakugan. The second was an even more complex sealing array that served to boost the chakra capabilities of the wearer.

The trio came to a complete halt next to a small alcove before heading inside. The seemingly completely ordinary hole in the side of a cliff was much more than met the eye, something obvious to Sakura and Naruto when their comrade simply walked through one of its rounded walls. Sakura was about to follow until she noticed her blonde teammate was hanging back, "What are you doing Naruto?"

The orange loving soldier shifted nervously, not daring to look his teammate in the eye, "I-I was thinking I'd stay out here, stand guard."

Sakura frowned at the illogical response, waiting outside would make them more likely to get attacked rather than reduce the chances. For a second she couldn't make heads nor tails of the jinchuriki's actions, that was until she remembered just who they were meeting up with, "Naruto, you're going to have to face them at some point, there's only so much you can do to never talk to them… It's been long enough hasn't it?"

The pink haired cherry tree brought a gloved hand out from under her cloak, placing it softly upon the twenty-year old's shoulder, his dark blue eyes finally coming to look into her lime green ones. Her face looked to be in more pain than he was, the corner of her eyes looking as though they were about to leak tears, her brow furrowed from the strain of holding them back. Sakura and Sasuke had been the only people keeping Naruto from losing it since Kakashi's death, though one pushed him forwards much more than the other, "Yeah… I suppose you're right."

The pair entered the secret room which had been dug out using earth jutsu and concealed using a powerful genjutsu. The room was rather large, several crates stacked up in one of the corners, atop which was sat a man clad in similar clothing to team seven. The figure's relaxed posture almost oozed disrespect as he looked down upon Sasuke who had already approached him and begun speaking to him, "Hmph, the old bitch sent team seven did she? Must think this is really important, either that or she thinks we can't handle it?"

The man's demeaner and clothing were ragged, spikey brown hair leaking out from under his hood as an animalistic sneer graced his slightly shadowed features, "Seems you're just as bitter as always Kiba."

Said man's thin black eyes flicked towards the source of the words, Sakura. A light growl escaped from the doggish soldier as he hopped down from his perch. Pushing past Sasuke, the wild Inuzuka stomped towards Sakura, but his eyes were looking straight through her and at the person behind her, "Sakura. _Naruto_. You're in my territory right now, you put a foot out of line, and I'll end you like any other enemy, got it?"

The words Kiba spat out were like venom, his voice coming out in a quiet hiss like a snake. It had been a long time since the Inuzuka had been the young and carefree boy he had once been. He had started to break down when his sister had died, though his mother had kept him afloat, but when Akamaru was killed by Madara swiftly followed by Tsume's death at the hands of Hana's reanimated corpse, he had tipped over the edge, "We're here to complete a mission Inuzuka, not to play 'let's resolve our petty feuds'."

Kiba flashed a glare back towards Sasuke but settled down a little as he walked past Naruto and began looking out of the alcove, "Hinata and Shino should get back soon, we'll talk then… And Naruto, watch your damn mouth around my wife, got it?"

Naruto nodded emotionlessly at the brutal words, coating the bubbling hatred in the pit of his stomach with cold apathy. Kiba and Hinata's relationship was a rapidly settled affair, most of them were during in times of war. Kiba had confessed to the Hyuga in the pit of his despair, when he hadn't a clue what he was saying and yet Hinata had responded in kind, her hopes of a future with Naruto quashed by his grief and hate filled words. Before the week was up, they were 'officially' married, not that it meant much anymore. There was no ceremony, simply a hastily drawn up contract and a pair of poor-quality rings, but it was more than most could hope for in the times they lived in.

Just as Kiba had said, Shino and Hinata didn't take long in arriving. As they entered, the already silent room seemed to grow into a void that sucked in all sound. The young Hyuga was very different from the last time Naruto had seen her, gone was the long hair and baggy black clothes, instead her blue hair had been chopped short, not like when she was small, but still reminiscent of it. Naruto barely got a glimpse under her cloak, but it was obvious the clothes she wore hugged her like a second skin.

Naruto was snapped out of his observations as Kiba dashed passed him, carelessly shoving his shoulder on the way. The Inuzuka didn't think twice about embracing his white eyed wife before pushing back slightly and scanning her for any injuries from head to toe, "Hinata! Are you okay? You didn't push yourself, did you?"

The shyness that once clung to Hinata's aura like a plague was gone, her back was straight, chin level with the ground, however her white eyes seemed less faultless than they once had. Her pale complexion was not the one of beauty it once was, now it seemed unhealthy especially added to the dark lines under her eyes. When tainted white clashed with a terribly dark blue Hinata couldn't help but shift uncomfortably, a hand shifting under her cloak to hover over her stomach, "I'm fine Kiba-kun… _We're _fine…"

Shino approached Naruto suddenly, the buzzing from under his cloak the only thing that made him notice he was even there. Almost nothing had changed about Shino, there was little there to change in the first place, though his round black glasses had been replaced with sleek square ones instead, "Naruto-san. I am glad to see you are in good health."

Shino had always been hard to read, even more so for Naruto because he wasn't that good at knowing what people were thinking, but since the beginning of the war the pair had grown slightly closer. Perhaps it was because the young Uzumaki had grown a lot better at reading people or perhaps it was because Shino had opened up to him a little, or maybe it was all of the above, either way they were firm friends, "Good to see you too Shino and you don't look too bad yourself."

There was a shift in the buzzing coming from Shino's hive, something about it told him that the silent man knew exactly what Naruto was doing; trying to hide his pain, something he had grown accustomed to doing a long time ago, "Right, less of the chitchat, it's time we talked about our plan of action."

Sasuke was intent on having this mission done and over with, obviously he was itching to get back to camp and his two teammates knew exactly why. That might have been why they obeyed their default leader as swiftly as they could, "We all already know the location of our target, but more details are necessary, I'm guessing you two have that?"

Shino stepped forwards, joining the group which had gathered around a crate covered in papers, one of which was a meticulously drawn blueprint of a building. The whole thing was square in design but reached up several stories, nine in total, each one labelled with different entry points, some of which had red crosses over them, "There is only one way of getting into the tower: this balcony located on the third floor. Anything higher is impossible… Why you ask? Because there are seals preventing us from climbing up the walls using chakra and any of the lower entry points are heavily guarded. Conclusion: this entry point is likely a trap meant to trick potential invaders into taking."

Sasuke leaned over the plans, his arms crossed over his chest as his eyes and mind soaked in all the information available to him, "I could take three of us up to the top floor on Garuda, however that would leave three of us at the bottom of the tower… I suggest those that stay at the bottom serve as a distraction…"

Sasuke looked up at the people before him just in time to feel his collar get grabbed by a clawed hand, "YOU BASTARD! You think I don't know what you want?! Hinata, me and Shino stay at the bottom while you three go up and have a risk-free trip?!"

Sasuke blinked coldly down at Kiba, unfazed by the threat of the Kanin-like man's glare, "I had planned that organisation simply because it makes the most sens-"

Before Sasuke could finish he sense Kiba's fist flying towards his face, reacting quicker than anyone in the room could follow Sasuke grabbed the arm that was at his neck and pulled it into him, twisting his body to the side and yanking as hard as he could. Kiba didn't have any time to react as he was flipped through the air and came crashing down violently onto the table that they had gathered around.

Kiba was about to launch himself to his feet only to come face to face with the pointed end of a katana, "I suggest you cool off mutt. If you're so insistent then I, Hinata and Naruto will head to the top while you, Sakura and Shino provide the distraction. This way the balance shouldn't be thrown off too badly."

Kiba growled in anger, but he did calm down, agreeing with the compromise, though whether that was because of the blade at his throat or because he was actually satisfied with the outcome, only he knew, "Good, then the plan will begin tomorrow, My team will have to sneak our way to the base of the tower from the ninth floor and set explosive tags at specific location all the way down. Kiba's group will set off explosives at a convenient distance in order to draw the enemies' attention. For now, we can rest. I think all of us are pretty tired for today."

With that Sasuke left the room, heading out of the alcove and with him went the tension which had slowly been rising. Hinata and Shino moved towards Kiba, making sure that he was alright while Naruto left the room as well. Sasuke was nowhere to be seen, but that was a good thing in Naruto's opinion, he needed to be alone for now.

The jinchuriki's soft footsteps sunk into the earth beneath him carelessly as his hand reached up to his chest, a faint pain blossoming in his heart before disappearing just as swiftly as it had appeared. Naruto came to a stop next to a felled tree, letting out a long and tired breath. Flashing a look around the greenery the young blonde confirmed that there were no bright white Zetsu nor reanimated corpses coming for him.

Naruto settled himself upon the form of the felled tree, his body sinking into the green moss that rested upon its surface. His eyes closed for barely a second but as soon as they did, a flash of Kakashi's dead body burned itself into his retina. His eyes were singed back open as tears burned in the corner of his eyes, a light sobbing escaping his lips.

He sat there wallowing in his sorrow, alone… Or at least he thought he was alone, suddenly a pair of warm arms wrapped themselves around him from behind. At first the blonde soldier tensed, but when he felt a weight rest itself on his shoulder and a soft breath caress his right ear, he relaxed, "Oh, Naruto… You really mustn't do this to yourself… There's nothing you could have done…"

Said young man half-heartedly placed one hand over the top of the arm that was wrapped around his waist while reaching back to gently take hold of the hand that was resting on his left shoulder, "I… I could have done something… I could have saved Kakashi… Could have saved Konohamaru… Could have saved Kiba's family… I-I…"

The broken man was suddenly span around, his nose almost touching the one of the person who had been holding him from behind. Bright lime green stared into blue eyes, strands of pink and blond hair lining both visions. A hot breath caressed Naruto's lips making him shudder slightly, but his eyes never wondered from the ones before him, "Naruto… You are the most caring, most loyal and most amazing man I have ever met! But that's also why I worry so much about you, you always blame yourself for things that are completely out of your control! So please, stop worrying about what you couldn't have prevented and can't change and instead worry about what you can prevent and change…"

The young girl before him slid her hands up his arms, his neck and stopped at his cheeks. Her thumbs caressed her comrade's whiskers tenderly and with the soothing motion, he couldn't help but let his eyes close. However, this time there were no horrible images, instead the only thing that existed in that moment for Naruto was the warmth of her breath and fingers. So, when that warmth grew closer and closer, he couldn't not notice.

The poor tortured soul opened his eyes only to find that his vision was completely obscured by the face of the person before him, her soft lips resting upon his own. He stayed stuck in that instant for longer than he cared to notice, the unfamiliar feeling of such tender affection melting away his cold heart. When they parted it suddenly felt as though a void of freezing cold was placed between them. Naruto couldn't help but be entranced by the pink tinted cheeks and fluttering eyelashes that were before him, "S-Sakura… I thought… Y-you and Sasuke…"

Sakura looked back towards the target of her affection, a slightly sad look tinting her eyes, "Naruto, it hasn't been him for a long time… Such a long time… I wasn't sure myself… But after he abandoned us… Abandoned _me_… I think even then I was beginning to know what my heart truly felt… And with every time you stood up for me, protected me and went after Sasuke time and time again, all of that for me… How could I not care for you? How could I not want to see you smile when you're crying? How could I not want to be by your side when you put your life on the line for others?"

With each word the bold pink haired kunoichi edged back towards her teammate, wrapping her arms back around him and embracing him in the most tender hug he had ever felt. She brought her face back before his, this time her lips were mere inches away from his own and as she began to talk it felt almost as though she were tickling his tender lips with a feather, "When you have the kind of heart that cares little for itself and everything for those around you, how could I not want to share however much life I have left with you? Especially when I see how much care you place upon me? How could I not… How could I not want to share _all_ of my remaining _experiences_ with you?"

The huskiness that hitched in Sakura's breath was enough to drive the young red-blooded man before her mad, something which was sealed when her lips pressed down on his own once again. Even though neither of them would sleep much that night, it was still the most peaceful night they had had in longer than either could remember.

When morning came the group of six gathered in front of the alcove, fully kitted out and prepared for what was to come. Wordlessly Sasuke summoned Garuda and hopped upon its back, throwing a look back towards the group. At some point Shino had moved to stand next to the summoned eagle as the silent trio watched on at the two pairs before them. Kiba was clasping Hinata's shoulder and babbling on like a mother who was sending off her child to school for the first time, "You have your explosive tags? Extra ration bars? Emergency flares? Kunai and-"

Hinata brought her hands up to clasp her husband's which were rested on her delicate shoulders, "Don't worry Kiba-kun, I've got everything, and I'll be fine, Naruto-san and Sasuke-san will take good care of me."

A light growl exited from the doggish man as he flicked a glare towards Sasuke who was sat on his friendly eagle summon, "They goddamn better, else they'll have me to answer to!"

Meanwhile an almost identical situation was going on but the roles were reversed, Sakura was doting on Naruto, making sure he hadn't forgotten anything, "Remember if things get too hairy out there you guys can retreat and we'll try again, don't push yourselves, understood?"

Naruto chuckled lightly, the first one that had escaped his lips in longer than anyone could remember, "Sakura, you're not my mom! Don't worry I'll be fine, worst case scenario I'll break out the old fuzzball-" "Don't! You know what'll happen if you do, that cloak doesn't hide his chakra, if you use even a tiny bit of it Madara will sniff us out within the hour…"

Naruto looked down at the ground like a scolded child before nodding sadly to which Sakura couldn't help but respond with a hug and a swift kiss that only those with sharp eyes caught, "It's about time we left so… Good luck!"

And with that both groups set out to do their job, the barely audible sound of fapping wings carrying one group off while the other dashed off through the trees. The silence atop Garuda was palpable, you might have been able to cut it with a knife even, but Sasuke much preferred to use words, "So, You and Sakura, hm?

Naruto was suddenly taken aback, spittle escaping his mouth instead of the words which he wanted to, eliciting a slight chuckle from the woman sat behind him on the eagle, "Y-you? W-wha? I don't have a clue what you're talking about!"

Sasuke smirked slightly, not that Naruto could see it from where he was sat, "Come now, no need to be shy, you certainly weren't last night."

The young blonde shinobi turned as red as a tomato as he realised just what his teammate was saying, "J-just why the hell did you hear anything!? Were you spying on us, you pervert ?!"

Sasuke himself couldn't help the light laughter that escaped his lips, it had been a while since he had been able to get this sort of reaction out of his rival… It was a pleasant change from the usual, "Oh believe me, If I hadn't applied a sound blocking seal the white Zetsu and reanimated corpses in the tower would have heard you!" "Pfft!"

Hinata couldn't handle it anymore as an explosive burst of laughter escaped her throat, to which Naruto could do nothing except pout. It took a while for all of Garuda's passengers to settle but once they had two of them noticed something was off. Hinata wiped a tear away from her eye as her slow chuckling started to morph. Tears from her laugher had morphed into tears of sadness which filled her eyes and poured freely down her cheeks. Even Garuda sensed something was off as it began to simply hover in place, "Hinata? W-what's wrong?"

The young woman who had seemed so confident last night was seemingly reduced back into the weak and defenceless child she had once been, "I-I'm sorry… It's… It's just that I'm a bit jealous of you two…"

Both Naruto and Sasuke were taken aback by the words, though one showed it much more than the other, "I don't understand, you two look really good together, he seems to care a lot for you?"

Hinata shook her head from side to side, tears flying off in the process, her hands reach down to cup her belly, her already rather emotionless tainted white eyes twisting into a dead grey, "Y-you don't understand… He doesn't care about me… Not anymore… N-not since we found out that I'm… Rather he only cares about his child…"

Sasuke and Naruto's eyes widened to the size of saucers, the revelation was completely unexpected, especially because the couple hadn't been together that long, though it was true that there weren't really any contraceptives anymore, not since Konoha had been abandoned… Sasuke frowned slightly, though she was in the early stages, the young Hyuga was still pregnant and that was dangerous in more ways than one… The main issue however was that it was well known that pregnant kunoichi had much more volatile chakra, that and chakra exhaustion was a much bigger issue for them, "You-You mean… you're pregnant?"

Hinata nodded slowly, her vision fixed on the back of the eagle, her mind barely registering the hand that suddenly found itself placed upon her shoulder, "Hinata, you've been through a lot, uh?"

Naruto had turned around of Garuda's back and was now facing the pale Hyuga, a sad look on his face. The words that came out softly and tenderly had the kind of tone that she had wished to hear for many years from the exact person that she had wished to hear them from. However, the irony and sadness of the situation just broke her even more… Her heart's desire was right before her and yet there were too many variables that made her dream a complete impossibility… And yet that didn't stop her from leaning forwards and placing her cold and ragged lips upon the lips of the only person she had ever truly loved.

The kiss was over barely after it had started as Naruto pulled away in shock, for a split second the young jinchuriki could see the whirlpool of distress and despair in the grey eyes before him, but he blinked and it was gone, replaced by a look of shear regret, "I-I'm sorry… I-I shouldn't h-have… _Sorry_…"

Naruto's mind couldn't process just what was going on, for years he had thought himself alone, thought his love one sided and yet two people he had held a candle for suddenly revealed their attraction to him in as many days. Sasuke didn't say a thing while Naruto tried to reassure Hinata that it was fine, but he couldn't get another word out of her, so the rest of the flight was experienced in an awkward silence.

The group arrived at their destination and then it was only a question of waiting for the signal from the distraction team. A few minutes passed by in silence, one which was suddenly disturbed by Hinata, "L-listen Naruto-kun, a-after a-all of th-this is over… Let's… Let's talk alright?"

Naruto turned around, gazing into Hinata's hopeful eyes before opening his mouth to give a response only to be cut off before he could even start, a huge explosion going off in the distance. Almost as soon as the thunderous sound stopped reverberating throughout the forest and tower, Garuda was dispelled, and the trio began free falling towards the upper most platform of the tower.

All three landed without a sound, swiftly and wordlessly moving into action, signalling each other to move forwards. It didn't take them long to sneak into the empty hallways of the jagged tower, crates and building supplies lining them on each side, giving the trio a multitude of places to hide. A group of three white Zetsu and two reanimated shinobi dashed passed, obviously heading out to deal with the distraction, which was perfect as the infiltration team managed to follow them through the tower.

Managing to avoid being spotted while tailing their marks and setting up explosive tags along the way was a lot of effort but the unlikely trio was used to extremely dangerous and hard to deal with situations. It was only when they reached the third floor up that something unexpected happened.

Two reanimated corpses began discussing with each other, something which shouldn't have been possible, from what the allied shinobi forces had gather, the reanimated corpses' personalities were completely sealed away ever since Madara had taken charge of them in order to avoid the exact same thing that he had done himself, "Report? What is going on?"

The other reanimated shinobi begun to explain that there was a group of shinobi fighting some of their forces a way away, however the pair's conversation was interrupted when a sudden siren began blaring throughout the entire fortress, "_Shit." _

Sasuke cursed under his breath as he saw the group of enemies before him shift into action. The sound of dozens of footsteps approaching them from behind and the group before them moving in meant that the infiltration group were trapped like rats, "_They must have found some of our tags… On my mark…"_

Sasuke raised his hand into the air, fingers prepared to enact a chopping motion. Adrenaline began flooding their systems, their heartbeat quickening and resounding in each of their ears. Muscles tense and minds sharp, all that was missing was Sasuke's signal… Any second now… Any second… Sasuke? And with that his hand came down like an executioner's axe setting off a chain of events that were irreversible.

Sasuke turned on the group of white Zetsu approaching behind, unleashing a devastating fireball upon them, meanwhile Naruto and Hinata leapt at the two unexpectant reanimated corpses, two seals slapped on their chests before they could even react. Naruto turned to the white Zetsu on his side and slashed forwards as though he were holding a katana, his voice barely audible with the surrounding racket, "Wind release: Vacuum Katana!"

If the light was just right and the imaginary onlooker squinted very hard, he or she might just make out the slightest glint of the invisible blade of air held between the young Jinchuriki's hands, which didn't hesitate to cut down its foes.

When the dust settled, not a single enemy was left standing, though that didn't mean the group could relax as the noise of the battle would soon draw more of them, "We need to move, Hinata! Our cover's blown either way so use your Byakugan, we need an exit route, right now!"

The young woman nodded, veins bulging around her eyes sickeningly as they pulsed with chakra. Her eyes didn't seem to move but her vision was traveling down every corridor at a break-neck pace, "I've got it, follow me."

And with that the group set off again, running down the twisting and turning corridors, placing explosive tags in a much more erratic way than before. Thanks to Hinata's eyes the trio barely came across any enemies before reaching the exit which was on the first floor.

Naruto was sprinting at the back of the group, flashing a look at Hinata's back, his mind momentarily thinking of her actions and words on the back of Garuda. His eyes then flicked to Sasuke who had acted unlike he had ever seen him act before, his eyes then flashing behind them to check that there was nothing nor someone following them. Suddenly a sound echoed out from in front of him and everything went into slow motion.

The dark stone and metal of the hallway barely registered under his feet as he felt as though the ground had disappeared from under them. His heart felt as though it stopped then and there. His eyes narrowed as the only things he could see was the sharp contrast between light and darkness. Two shadows had collided before him, their forms burning into his mind, one broken and contorted and the other large and hunched over, "HINATA!"

In a split second Sasuke's Susanoo phased into existence, black flames coming to life with vigour. Sasuke's lips parted and his voice thundered out like a crack of lightning "BLAZE RELEASE: SUSANOO KAGUTSUCHI!"

Naruto dove towards the distant figure of Hinata which had been carelessly tossed away like a ragdoll, her figure resting up against a tree with blood leaking everywhere. The broken soldier brought his shaking hands towards her form, scared to touch anything in case it made her condition deteriorate. Deep down he knew she wasn't going to survive, all four of her limbs were twisted at awkward angles. A few ribs stuck out through her cloak, the fleshy red and white contrasting grimly with the black. It felt as though a thick clot of something was stuck in his throat as he tried to swallow, "H-Hinata? N-no… I-I'll g-get S-Sakura… Y-you'll be f-fine… I'll f-fire the d-distress flare…"

Hinata's breathing, if it could be called that, wheezed out of her lungs. Through the excruciating pain that she must have been in, a smile still managed to grace her lips… Another smile on another dead comrade… Naruto shook his head from side to side trying to rummage through his bag for a flare, "N-Naruto-kun… P-please… Don't b-blame y-yourself…"

The young blond looked up at Hinata's broken form just in time to hear her last breath wheeze out of her throat as her grey eyes begun to slowly cloud over. Before Naruto could even process what was going on, a sealing array begun crawling over her visible skin. The young soldier's mind barely registered what the seals meant in time to leap away from her corpse as it detonated violently, bits of flesh and other bits that didn't bear thinking about scattered around the clearing like a morbid firework, "NOOOO!"

The last of nine jinchuriki fell to his knees, tears running away from his vacant eyes mixing in with the blood that tainted his cheeks. Naruto's mind unconsciously registered a voice calling out to him, but he didn't react to it, not until a hand came and slapped him across the cheek. His misty eyes came into focus as he looked up at Sasuke who peered down at him with a slight frown upon his brow, blood trickling down from his right eye as the mangekyou sharingan span around in its socket, "Naruto! Think of how Sakura will feel if you die here!"

Naruto shook himself up at the words, standing to his feet as he flashed a hate filled glare back towards Hinata's assassin, though he was suddenly taken aback at its shape. A huge hunchback creature towered above them, fighting Sasuke's Susanoo to a stand-still. Its disgustingly mutated body writhing around as though it had something under its skin trying to escape, screaming faces pushing their indents into the pale white skin reminiscent of white Zetsu, "I can't sense this thing's chakra and my flames don't seem to affect it!"

Naruto breathed in a deep breath and closed his eyes before they suddenly shot back open, orange patches tainting his skin. His pupils had morphed from their usual round shape to rectangles and his iris rather than dark blue were a burnt orange. Even with his mangekyou sharingan active Sasuke struggled following what happened next as Naruto drove a fist into the mutated abomination, grasping at its flesh like a hook. The head of the beast, which looked the same as a White Zetsu save for its size looked down at the thing that had just harmed it only for it to suddenly begin to panic.

At first the creature tried to jump away but the arms of the Susanoo wrapped themselves around it, Sasuke understand his teammate's plan. After it realised it was trapped it began beating down on its purple captor, unable to dodge or shift the weight of the blows, Susanoo began to crack as Sasuke fell onto one knee from the strain, but it was all in vain. Horrible boils of stone began running up the body of the beast as its features grew more and more toad like until it was completely frozen in place.

As soon as Sasuke was sure that the strange Zetsu wasn't going to suddenly start moving again he let his Susanoo disappear. The backlash from his jutsu made the last loyal Uchiha topple forwards, but he was swiftly caught by a blank faced Naruto. The blonde soldier looked back grimly at the tower before forming half of a ram seal, which was swiftly followed by a huge series of explosions climbing its way up the dark tower, "We need to get out of here."

It didn't take long for Naruto to shake off any potential pursuers despite having Sasuke's weight slung over his shoulder and soon enough the duo had returned to the alcove. The pair limped into the secret room pathetically, three pairs of eyes were suddenly on them as Naruto helped Sasuke to sit down on a crate.

Shino's hive buzzed strangely, as though it already knew exactly what had happened. Slowly Naruto begun to walk towards Kiba who was deadly silent, however Sakura lunged at her lover before anyone could do anything, wrapping her arms around his neck, "Thank god! You're okay, we thought something might've happened when we heard the tower's alarm go off!"

Sakura backed away from her new lover before looking around behind his shoulder, her eyes falling on Sasuke questioningly as he silently looked at the floor before going back to Naruto who she suddenly realised had blood coating his torn cloak, "H-hey… Naruto? Where's Hinata?" "Yeah _Naruto_, _where. The Hell. IS_ MY GODDAMN WIFE?!"

Kiba was stood a few feet away from Naruto, his fists clenched white at his side as a trickle of red blood dripped onto the ground, his hair was standing on end and fangs were borne. Naruto could barely look him in the eyes, but he did so anyway as he parted his dry lips to talk, Sakura stood by his side with a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Everything was going fine… Everything was going according to plan… But they must have spotted one of our explosive tags… The alarm went off and Hinata was leading us to the exit… And then… And then… She… She's dead…"

Kiba's already narrow eyes became as small as pin pricks as he dove forwards, his hand came forwards like a spear, nails pointed like claws. Sasuke tried to get to his feet, activate his sharingan, but his body didn't listen, he had used too much chakra. Kiba was one of the fastest Konoha shinobi around, except for Sasuke or Naruto when using sage mode. Naruto didn't have a chance to react as his impending doom came closer and closer to his chest, and despite how much Shino wished he had trained his speed more it was impossible for both him and his insects to intercept the attack.

Naruto was certain his once good friend was about to kill him. Instead his vision was suddenly flooded by a sea of pink cherry blossom petals. Hot red splashed across his form, his trembling arms coming forwards to catch the figure of his saviour.

Naruto carefully laid her down on the cold stone floor, his trembling hands coming over to try and cover up the disturbing hole in her chest. The pink haired kunoichi's strength of a Hundred seal pulsed and wrapped itself around the young girl's body but almost as quickly began to fade. Blood leaked from her mouth as she coughed, lips trying to curve up into a smile but failing, "N-Naruto… I-I know it's late… B-ut… I-I…I l-lov-"

And with that her bright lime green eyes unfocused and clouded over, Naruto's mind shut down.

The great nine tailed fox raised its snout as its bright red eyes focused down upon its host, its broken form kneeling in water that was slowly rising to its neck. Its claws reached forwards, their owner not failing to understand that if it wanted freedom there would be no time easier than that instant. However, it refused to do so, its hatred long since buried beneath respect. A sound suddenly reached the furry creature's ears, a dripping sound… Drip, drip, drip… Its huge red orbs looked up only to see a red crack in the ceiling of its host's mindscape, drops of red liquid falling down and tainting the water below, **"Little pup… Just what are you-"**

The fox's voice was cut off as it felt a horrendous pull at its chakra, one that it had only felt when its host had tried to takes its chakra for itself, though this time there was something much more sinister about it. Red eyes looked down at the small human form, bright red pooling around it, **"You're… Nhg… Have you finally started to hate? This isn't… Ngh… This isn't like you Naruto…"**

Naruto's body exploded with vile red chakra, worse than anything Sasuke had ever felt from his teammate. Kiba's eyes widened, his mind still reeling from the shock of killing the wrong target, "I-I didn't-"

Shino could barely believe his eyes as he watched Kiba's head fall off his shoulders, the Aburame's shaded eyes flashed back to Naruto only to see that he had barely even raised his hand. Condensed chakra had flown forwards and ended Kiba's life in a split second. Shino looked down at his two dead comrades, have black markings starting to crawl over their exposed skin like insects.

Shino's vision was completely obscured as his glasses were coated in a thick substance. His hand shakily reached up to remove his glasses, even though he already knew exactly what had covered the room. What the young insect wielder saw was like a scene pulled straight out of hell. The four walls of the makeshift room were covered in bright red blood, bits of flesh and organs that were slowly melting into goop mixed in. However, Naruto who stood in the middle of all this was completely unblemished, the red-hot chakra that surrounded him evaporated it before it even touched him.

Shino had raised and trained his hive of kikaichu beetles to be able to devour a tailed beast's chakra, just in case, something which came in use when they had had a run in with the ten tails, something which would surely come in handy when they would face it again… However, this vile chakra that was emanating from Naruto didn't belong to a tailed beast. Not anymore. It was as if he had stolen his beast's chakra and infused it with his own rage and hatred, something unheard of…

Just as Shino, and Sasuke who had wiped the blood away from his eyes, begun to fear the blond might suddenly turn on them too, he collapsed on all fours. A horrid scream followed by sobbing was the only sound the young blonde made. Shino shared a glance with Sasuke before cautiously approaching the broken jinchuriki. He gently placed a hand on his back, discreetly slipping a paralysis seal onto his neck, and with that the blond was out like a light.

Shino slung the blonde onto his shoulders despite his hive's protests, shakily walking towards Sasuke who had since stood upon his own shaky legs, "Sasuke-san… We must leave this place… Swiftly…"

All the Uchiha did was nod as they dashed out of the alcove, heading in the opposite direction of their headquarters. They would keep heading in that direction until they were certain that no one nor nothing was following them.

Sasuke bit his lower lip, he had just lost a teammate, but Shino had just lost two… He flashed a glance back only to see the Aburame placing another pair of sunglasses upon the brim of his nose, "Worry not Sasuke-san. Naruto-san is in a much worse place than I am… Make two mates and then to lose them both in the same day…"

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, he knew? His mind strained to think back, adding to the physical pain, but Shino had been strangely close to Garuda before they left, hadn't he, "You had one of your Kikaichu follow us, didn't you?"

The slight inclination of the dark-haired man's hooded head was all Sasuke needed. It made sense, Shino had had the time it took for Naruto and him to get back to think over his teammate's death. That was how Sasuke reasoned it, it was what he hoped, and that Shino wasn't just an apathetic psychopath. Flashing another look back the raven haired Uchiha barely spotted the slight glimmer of a clear liquid trailing behind his conscious comrade. He almost wanted to curse himself for thinking such a thing as he looked back to where he was going, "Sasuke-san… What happened today… No one must know the truth… Not about what Naruto did, nor what Kiba did…"

Sasuke closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, he hated this situation, he hated himself, he hated Kiba, he hated it all! Naruto had been happy, truly happy for the first time since he had met the annoying blonde brat… And with his happiness Sasuke himself had been truly happy… He had been hopeful, because if Naruto, as broken as he was, could find happiness then there was a chance that he himself might be able to as well… But his hopes had been crushed… A sigh escaped from his lips before his vocal cords begun to vibrate, "I… I think you might be right about that Shino…"

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**And here ends the 50 (Now 60, yay!) follower special!** With this we got a little glimpse of what made Kamen into the broken man that he is now.

For those that could not tell, this was the turning point for Naruto, the moment he stopped being a 'true soldier'. After all the time he spent trying to break the cycle of hatred, it finally broke him…

Just in case any of you were confused as to why corpses kept exploding in this chapter; it's because every single soldier of the Allied Shinobi nations has had their body engraved with a seal that disassembles their DNA upon their death so that Madara can't get his hands on anything to turn them into his reanimated minions. The side effects being a pretty gory end and a closed casket funeral, if you get one at all… I hope you don't find this chapter too hard to read, contents wise that is…

This chapter really did hit me in the feels, even as I was writing it, so I hope it had the intended effect on you too.

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Anyways, **review answer time!**

**Tygreezy25:** I chuckled to myself when I read your review, true enough Kamen and Menma do have certain similarities, but they're also very different. Menma was consumed by his hatred, Kamen was broken by it. Either way, just as there is a reason Menma was named Menma, I gave Kamen his name for a reason. In Japanese Kamen means mask, you can take more than a few educated guesses as to why I chose the name.

**XT3100:** I'll start by answering with this: Kamen knows who he is, he knows his sins all too well. The fact of the matter is he doesn't acknowledge his pre-war self. He can no longer comprehend how he could have once been that person. His seventh Hokage self that he talks to is representative of his younger self, who strived for nothing more than being acknowledged, even if he needed to become Hokage for that to happen. Otherwise, full power Kamen is still a little way off, he has 9 years of tricks up his sleeve to reveal.

**Hi Exclamation Point:** I'm glad to know you think it's well written, even now I still feel like it's a little sloppy but hey, just means I gotta work harder. As for Kamen and him having multiple partners… After this chapter I hope you can understand why that would not happen. The scars from what happened between him, Sakura and Hinata in this chapter run deep.

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As a little bit of a side note, **I've been working on another Naruto fanfiction** called 'A Soldier in Another World', which is going to be an Isekai. I know cliché AF but I can't help but want to explore the possibilities.

Now so far I haven't written much of it, but I have a sizeable chunk of the plot already nailed down in my mind. So question is, would you prefer I focus on 'A Return Ticket to Konoha' (bearing in mind I probably will still post chapters with a rather sizeable delay) or would you prefer I also work a little on 'A Soldier in Another World', which would mean that you get more to read, just that it wouldn't be related to this fanfiction.

Depending on the general opinion of your reviews, I'll choose whether or not to publish the prologue of 'A Soldier in Another World'.

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As usual, don't hesitate to review the story and I'll try to answer them at the end of a chapter, as long as it doesn't spoil the plot. Bye for now!


	10. Chapter 10- The Calm Before The Storm

**Chapter 10- The Calm Before The Storm**

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"It does not matter how slowly you go

as long as you do not stop."

-Confucius

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This Chapter's Theme Song:

Des Rocs – Used to the Darkness

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"_**Oh my, what is this? Has sloth finally arrived?"**_

"_**What you are can't simply be washed away!"**_

"_**I don't know who you are… But it seems I made a mistake… You aren't sloth… No… YOU'RE WRATH!"**_

"_**Are you all bark and no bite?"**_

Kamen's eyes flashed open in a panic, his hand reaching for his kunai pouch only to find that it wasn't at his hip. The dark-haired time traveller winced as he sat up and scanned his surroundings. He was lying in what was left of the curry of life shop. He had been set up behind the counter next to the gas cooker, which would have been a peculiar choice had it not been the least damaged area of the shop. Next to him, placed in a neat line, was his kunai pouch and armour.

As the war veteran's thoughts organised themselves and memories of where he was and what had happened came flooding back, he noticed three people standing a short distance from him. One was Grandma Sancho who was stirring a pot of curry diligently while the other was Karashi, who was running back and forth from a crooked cupboard to the curry pot, arms full of ingredients. He only just managed to spot a third person who was stood on a stool next to Grandma Sancho, a certain purple haired child. A bittersweet smile graced Kamen's lips, Ranmaru would find his place here, just as he had in his time… Nothing had truly changed…

As Kamen struggled to get to his feet, his muscles still feeling the strain from being overworked, wincing from the pain as he caught sight of the other people in the room. Shale, Lisandra and her two remaining samurai who had stripped their top armour and helms, revealing their black under shirts, were knelt next to the corpse of the third samurai, a pure white sheet covering the body. One of the samurai, the one with two swords, was a long brown-haired woman, who's light blue eyes were riddled with red markings, obviously bloodshot from crying. Kamen's solemn eyes gazed at the female samurai with both pity and respect, though the shinobi world had its fair share of inequalities, kunoichi were rarely looked down upon as physical strength was only one of the many tools that could be used by kunoichi and shinobi alike, however for samurai this was a very different story. Outstanding strength and sword skills were the only tools they had to measure up to their opponents, meaning that women were often left lagging behind, that is unless they had exceptional sword skills. This alone said a lot about the woman kneeling in the rubble of the curry of life shop.

The ex-blond shinobi stumbled around the counter and out into what used to be the dining area. It seemed as though team seven and Lee had set about cleaning the place up, made evident by a line of Naruto's shadow clones who were busy forming a chain that was gradually emptying the shop of broken planks and similar rubble. Sakura and Lee were busy patching up some of the holes that had been made in the building's structure and though the craftsmanship was dubious it was at the very least sturdy. Sasuke and the real Naruto were uncharacteristically sweeping up the dust and splinters that littered the floor. At least it would have been uncharacteristic if Kamen didn't know both children better than they knew themselves. They had both lived alone for long enough that housework was the most familiar to them out of the given tasks, Sasuke more so than Naruto seeing as not only did he actually look after his own flat outside of the Uchiha compound, he also cleaned every single house inside the Uchiha compound, every other month. Kamen had been quite shocked about that little titbit, sure Sasuke had only revealed this after having gotten drunk one solemn evening, but he still had never expected the dark-haired brooder to ever tell him about such a thing.

Kamen passed by the mourning quartet and gave a small bow as well as a 'Sorry for your loss' before reaching his objective, Guy and Kakashi who were sat at one of the still intact tables that they had shuffled over to a discreet corner of the dining area. They had noticed his approach ever since he had stood up but only acknowledged him as he hovered above them. The pair had most likely been talking about their plan of action for what to do next, which was made obvious by the map lying on the table between them.

Kamen felt more than a bit awkward as he stood above the pair, unsure what they would think after yesterday's fiasco, not just because of what he had done, but rather because of his inaction in the beginning. His worries were unfounded however as Kakashi raised one of his hands and mumbled a 'sup' through his mask, swiftly followed by Guy shooting to his feet and grabbing his hand to shake it up and down vigorously, "KAMEN-KUN! I HAVE PROMOTED YOU FROM TEMPORARY RIVAL TO MY SECOND ETERNAL RIVAL! The score currently stands at 0-20 for you but worry not! I shall have plenty of occasions to challenge you as I and Lee accompany you to…"

Guy paused mid-rant for a moment as he looked over at a despairing Kakashi, who simply said, "_Ren'ai Fuun…"_

Guy turned swiftly back to Kamen with a brilliant smile and animate eyebrows, his words seeming to come out faster than his lips were speaking them, "Right, Ren'ai Fuun! My primary eternal rival has told me everything! Therefore, I have decided to accompany you and team seven to your ULTIMATE GOAL! The young Lee overheard us and also insisted on joining us! So I Hope you don't mind either of us coming along FREE OF CHARGE!"

Kamen was slightly knocked off kilter by the peculiar man, he would never get used to Guy's personality, not that he didn't appreciate the spandex clad man's 'vigour' and 'youthfulness', it was just that he would never be able to appreciate it in the way he had as a child, "Ah, I guess if Kakashi's okay with it then I don't mind, I mean he's in charge of this whole operation…"

"Perfect! Then take a seat!" Despite Guy's vigour he was being overly cautious of how he approached Kamen.

Kamen let out a slight sigh as he positioned himself comfortably on the floor, ironically the large gash wound that went horizontally across his stomach wasn't what pained him the most… No, it was his whole body that hurt most. The way Kamen used his chakra hadn't changed, the jutsu he used hadn't changed and neither had the way he fought, what had changed was the lack of tailed beast inside his seal. Kamen's fighting style was volatile and unpredictable, even if he had calmed down during his nine years of war. Even if he had channelled and refined the brutality and volatility of his style, it hadn't changed at its core. The core of his fighting style and jutsu were based on the same idea as the rasenshuriken… Risk and reward, something which was rather self-destructive. However, when he had the nine tails nurturing and protecting him, the risk was diminished to such a point that it was worth it, as was the actual danger to his health. Kamen was certain that without the furry fox he would have destroyed his chakra network long before having mastered the Rasenshuriken. Now however, even such a short fight with Raiga had put him completely out of commission, it was pitiful.

"How are you feeling Kamen? None of us are very good at first aid but Sakura and I did our best…" Kamen nodded appreciatively to Kakashi, struggling not to wince as a thread from his bandages caught on one of the steel stitches and tugged it slightly, "You did the best you could with what was on hand, I couldn't ask for more…"

The Dark-haired time traveller had dabbled in medical ninjutsu, but he found himself to simply be incompatible with the art, which had surprised him just as much as it had everyone else. Seeing how he took to Fuinjutsu like a duck to water, everyone had assumed that it would be the same for medical ninjutsu as they required similar skills; extremely good chakra control, concentration and precision… And yet save the most basic medical Ninjutsu, Kamen just couldn't handle the art. Tsunade had hypothesised that it had to do with chakra wavelengths, a part of a theory she had developed with the help of Naruto and what remained of Konoha's research and development team. Either way it meant that he was happy with any sort of medical treatment at this point, seeing as he could have just been left with his belly split open. Kamen's thoughts were interrupted as he noticed that both Guy and Kakashi were staring at him expectantly, "Is there something you want to ask me?" "Yeah… About yesterday's fight… Uhm-" "WHAT WAS THAT AMAZING JUTSU YOU USED?"

Kamen sweat dropped at the contrast between Kakashi's polite hesitance and Guy's oblivious enthusiasm, "You mean my Secret sword technique?" "Yes! That Black blade! What was it?" "Maa, Guy you should settle down, if you're not careful you'll end up knocking over the table… Though I am curious as well… I didn't even get to see the hand signs you used through all that fog…"

Kamen scratched at his temple pensively, he wasn't sure whether he should answer the question as he would certain it would simply lead to more questions, however he couldn't see another option, if he didn't explain it or dodged the question it would eventually lead to more suspicion and scrutiny, "Uh… Well it's called Hitodama… It's a pretty simple jutsu, you both know the principle behind the vacuum blade jutsu, correct?" One nod from Kakashi, a head shake from Guy and another sweat drop from Kamen, "Okay… So the basic idea of the vacuum blade jutsu is to infuse an already existing weapon with wind nature chakra, but if you're somewhat talented with shape transformation you can actually modify the jutsu slightly in order to create a weapon from nothing."

Kakashi nodded slightly in understanding, "So it's the same principle behind the difference between an earth wall and an earth spike jutsu… But surely in order to maintain the form of a sword you would have to use some Nature transformation as well, Ne? otherwise wouldn't it just be a blunt sword?"

Kamen shook his head which drew the intrigue of the white-haired shinobi, "You could do that, but the effort and concentration it takes to maintain a sharp edge using wind infused chakra would make it unusable in combat…"

"So then how…" Kakashi hesitated for a second running the information back and forth in his mind, the copy-nin's experience with hundreds of different jutsu allowing him to slowly but surely figure out the trick to the jutsu, which Kamen let him do, "Ah… I see, so that's how you did it… Rather than have a pre-existing inner container for the wind infused chakra that would ordinarily be needed for the vacuum blade you use shape transformation to create an outer-container made of chakra and when you strike you release the blade edge of the shape transformation for a split second, releasing the wind infused chakra that's trapped on the inside, like a miniature and condensed wind cutter jutsu it shoots out and slices your target… You turned one of the least versatile techniques that you could find into an extremely versatile one that can be useable in any number of situations… That's... Impressive to say the least…"

Kamen chuckled slightly at the praise while scratching at the back of his neck, he felt slightly guilty as the idea for the jutsu was heavily based on one of Garaa's jutsu, but he couldn't exactly admit that. Guy, surprisingly, seemed to understand most of what was being said, even if jutsu wasn't his specialty, he was still a Jonin, which was why he pushed the matter, "So why did it turn black and red?"

The dark-haired man swallowed slightly, this was where the hard part came, "Well, what I've described was just my own twist on the vacuum blade, Hitodama is the same principle, except it employs lava release-" "You have a Kekkei Genkai?!" "Uh… Well not exactly… Before I get onto that I'll finish the explanation for Hitodama otherwise we'll be here longer than it takes the kids to finish fixing this place up… So… Using the same principle as the shape transformation employed in my vacuum blade, I replaced the wind infused chakra with earth and fire infused chakra, creating a magma like core to the blade, releasing the hottest part of it with each attack… It's not as precise as the vacuum blade, and it's a lot more dangerous for the wielder if they're not careful but it's much more effective as it can cut through armour or multiple targets if necessary, it also requires less concentration as it doesn't instantly fall apart if you release the shape transformation for longer than necessary."

Both Guy and Kakashi sat in silence for a couple of seconds processing everything that had been said. The understanding of jutsu and chakra that would be needed to come up with the idea, let alone the actual skill needed to execute it left both the jonin in slight awe, a strange feeling that they rarely felt saved when face to face with a Kage. Kakashi was the first to recover as he straightened himself out and leaned into the table slightly, resting his chin on his clasped fingers, "And so… What's this about you 'not exactly' having a Kekkei Genkai'?"

If Kamen told the whole truth, which was that he had unlocked the ability to use every chakra nature when he was inhabited by all nine tailed beasts, he would be sent off to a mental institution, probably prior to having been tortured into revealing everything he knew about... Well everything, and even if he likely had the power to avoid such an ending, he still would rather not turn his friends into enemies unless absolutely necessary, "My father came up with a theory about chakra, one that most people laughed off as being complete nonsense, they even accused him of being a quack… But years later I found some of his notes and tried to apply his theory… He called it the 'chakra radiation' theory…" In truth it was a theory that Tsunade and Naruto had come up with while working together, they didn't really have much else to do with their free time except theorise, and Naruto enjoyed his exchanges with the old woman, it reminded him of those he had with Jiraiya. And sure, Sakura and Sasuke had joined in every now and again but they could never quite keep up with his ideas like she could. This did mean that the theory contained some advanced ideas, ones that the current Konoha was a long way from even having an incline of, so he had to simplify the explanation a little, "The theory works on the idea that yin and yang, which make up chakra are simply two different types of wave which travel on separate wavelengths, like radio waves and that shinobi act as a transmitter for these 'chakra waves' which combines them into the chakra we know and which can manipulate the resulting energy at will. The resulting combination of the separate waves depends largely on one's physical energy and spiritual energy. This would account for why some people are better at Fuinjutsu than medical ninjutsu or genjutsu, it would also account for elemental affinities. Elemental affinities could exist due to the nature of the separate yin and yang waves, certain people are attuned to specific wavelengths more than others, those wavelengths corresponding to natural elements. This means that in theory, with enough knowledge of chakra and its functioning along with a corresponding level of control of one's chakra, one could alter their wavelength at will and therefore be able to wield any element as though they had an affinity for it."

A complete silence settled over the table as both Guy and Kakashi struggled to digest what Kamen was saying, the theory sounded completely logical, but the implications were completely unbelievable. If it could be applied in a practical manner and taught, to not only chakra nature related Kekkei Genkai but also things such as Doujutsu, it could completely shatter certain beliefs and might even bring the sharingan back from the brink of extinction. Before Guy and Kakashi had time to register fully the weight of what Kamen was suggesting, team seven and Lee arrived in front of their table, "Ah Kamen! You're up! I didn't notice! Ne, can you teach me that cool jutsu you used?!"

The little blonde boy seemed to have completely forgotten their little exchange in favour of holding his second sensei's shoulders while hopping up and down like a hyperactive frog. Said sensei span around and plopped a hand down on top of the blonde's head, "Maybe when you've gotten to practise a little more with jutsu mh?"

Sakura walked up behind Naruto and smacked him lightly on the back of the head, "Naruto-baka! Be careful, Kamen-sensei is injured!"

Kamen chuckled slightly at the pink haired girl's puffed out cheeks, something which he came to regret as her miffed lime green eyes locked with his sapphire blue ones, "And you Kamen-sensei! You shouldn't even be up, let alone walking about! You're lucky Raiga's attack didn't pierce any internal organs!"

Kamen lazily brought his other hand to ruffle the pink haired Kunoichi's hair, "Ah come on Sakura, can't you see I'm fine, I'm used to much worse than this!"

Kamen meant the phrase to be reassuring, in his timeline it usually had been reassuring considering that he had almost died more times than he could care to count, however for the two young genin before him and the other two who were listening in, it made the situation worse. It was likely that the memories from their fight with Zabuza were still fresh in their mind, yet despite this none of them chose to comment.

All those present seemed to notice that the usual shadow that hung above Kamen was slightly less intense than usual, so they didn't want to press the issue… Well at least those that knew Kamen well, "KAMEN-SAN! You truly must be a warrior of youth to have gotten used to such life-threatening injuries!"

A sudden silence invaded the room, everyone thinking that the young spandex wearing Lee may have just stepped on a landmine as he came bounding up to the dark haired veteran, but instead said man moved his hand from Naruto's head to Lee's and ruffled his bowl cut, "Well I might not exactly be a warrior of youth, but I've seen my fair share of battle."

Before the conversation could go down the wrong track, Kakashi decided to speak up, "Right then, now that everyone seems ready, we'll talk about the plan of action… I wanted to go back on our tracks, give Guy and Lee a send-off at Otafuku Gai and loop back around to the much safer route that I had originally planned… Unfortunately-" "I opposed the idea! Seeing how my second eternal rival is wounded and the samurai have lost one of their own, I suggested that we go straight towards Rain Eye Fun!" "Ren'ai Fuun" "That!" "Yes, well anyway, I'm unfortunately inclined to agree with Guy, if we travel as the crow flies we could get to our objective within three days, that is without taking into account any hostiles or geographical challenges we may come across… But either way it'll be better than taking a week to get there by taking the slightly safer route... Is everything clear? … Good then everyone, get ready to leave."

As everyone dispersed to gather their sleeping bags and other such clutter, Kamen hobbled over towards team seven's client, her caregiver and her two remaining guards. None raised their heads to greet him despite surely noticing his presence. The dark-haired shinobi struggled to get down on his knees as he brought his hands together in a haphazard and strained prayer to the deceased, "His name was Masato, if I'm not mistaken? If you would like any assistance in transporting him, I-"

The female samurai looked up towards Kamen with eyes full of grief and anger as a bitter reply forced its way through her teeth, "_You bastard!_ _Don't you dare say his name!_ _You were too busy cowering while he gave his life to_-"

"Sasaki. That's enough." With Shale's quiet but firm words, the samurai known as Sasaki clasped her lips shut instantly, it was almost as though the protector was the child and the protected the adult, "Thank you for the offer Kamen-san… However, we carry our own where I'm from."

Kamen nodded solemnly but pressed onwards, "Of course I wouldn't want to disrespect your traditions… However, three days, most of which will be in the desert sun, will take their toll… Which is why I wanted to suggest you use this…" Kamen retrieved a scroll from under his shin guard. During the war he had rarely used or even carried the kind of scroll he was offering to Shale. There was no need for such things… But as he was preparing for this mission a dark part of him insisted he create and bring along the sealing scroll he held clasped in his hands, "It will seal his body and preserve it so that he may receive a fitting burial…"

Shale stared at the scroll for a few seconds, her blank eyes seeming to hesitate for a few seconds before she finally parted her lips to talk, "We wouldn't know how to use it… Would you kindly do the honours? Sasaki, will you take it upon yourself to carry him home?"

Kamen nodded firmly and went about his business with slight difficulty due to his wound, while Sasaki nodded shakily to her princess. Kamen was finished rather quickly with the help of the second samurai. The body was lain on the scroll which Kamen then activate with a minute amount of chakra and in that split second the body seamlessly disappeared. Kamen rose to his feet, the scroll in hand, swiftly followed by Lisandra, Shale and her samurai. The dark-haired shinobi bowed slightly as he handed the female samurai the scroll with both hands. Sasaki took the sealing scroll with trembling yet determined hands. She proceeded to tie the scroll firmly to her belt, ensuring it would not come undone unless she wanted it to.

Though neither the samurai nor Shale would openly thank the dark-haired veteran, Lisandra's subtle nod of gratitude was enough to pay him back for his actions.

Kakashi walked over to the quintet and threw an awkward glance at Kamen, it seemed as though Kakashi had heard about Kamen's little episode from Naruto and knew exactly what the strange tension in the air was about. Despite this Kakashi did a good job of concealing his feelings as he addressed his client with a reassuringly calm tone, "Are you ready to depart, Shale-sama?"

The small blonde child nodded firmly, it seemed as though her resolve to return home was only reinforced by everything that had happened. Just as everyone was preparing to leave a voice came from the kitchen as Grandma Sancho peered out into the dining area, "Oh my, are all of you leaving already? You must have a taste of the new curry of life recipe before you go!"

Almost everyone save for Naruto, Lee, Guy and Kamen were repulsed at the idea of eating another serving of the stuff, especially since it now looked even worse than it had before, something which was incomprehensible to most of those present. The curry looked almost like bubbling magma and seemed as though it might melt through the pot it had been cooked in any second. Despite this Kamen chuckled slightly and calmly stated, "I guess that'll be four servings to go then… If you would be so kind Grandma Sancho!"

Thus, with swiftness only garnered from a lot of experience, Grandma Sancho set about filling up four metal thermoses, almost to the brim. Each was then handed out to the four people whom the old woman knew wanted her curry, "There you go young'uns. Now don't go forgetting to come visit again some time! Karashi's going to announce to the village that Raiga and his gang have been dealt with and soon enough this place will be booming with customers again!"

As the group left, there were many farewells and long waves, until the curry of life shop fell out of sight and the group of nine set out for their long-awaited destination.

There wasn't much excitement to be had as the group made their way towards Ren'ai Fuun. There wasn't even the odd bandit to slow down their trip and the geographical layout of their route was fortuitously easy to traverse despite not being a commonly used one. By the end of the first day they had already reached the land of river's border with the land of wind. Unfortunately, it was on their second day of traveling that Sakura realised something was amiss…

The group, having gone far enough for the day, had found an outcropping of rocks to camp in, with the hopes of sheltering from the bitter cold of the land of wind's desert night. Naruto had started setting up his traps under Kakashi's watchful eye, Sasuke had already managed to set up one of the tents with great difficulty and Sakura was just about to set out and see if she could find anything that would burn for the fire. However just as Sakura was about to set off, she spotted something moving out of the corner of her eye.

Up and Down, up and down, at an irregular rhythm. Sakura's lime green eyes focused in on the distraction only to notice that it was a person's shoulders that had been in the corner of her eye. Turning fully to take in what was going on, she was faced with Kamen's usually stiff back, slumped forwards as he sat on a foldable stool that was halfway sunk into the sand. The young genin could just about make out the hand that Kamen was resting his head in. Something wasn't right. Kamen, even with a stomach that had been split open, was like an immovable rock. His movements were always purposeful, even Naruto, who wasn't very observant, noted this peculiar characteristic in a conversation they had had in the days prior, _"Ne, don't you think Kamen is kinda like a frog?" "What do you mean Dobe? He hasn't sprouted warts and started to eat flies as far as I can tell?" "Naw, I mean he can be just sitting there, not moving an inch, and then outta nowhere, BAM! He'll do something like look at you or something!" ... "What?" "I think I understand what he means Sasuke-kun… He means that Kamen-sensei never seems to move without reason and when he's not moving, he almost disappears into the background…" "Yeah, yeah! Like a frog!"_

This was why, seeing such a symbol of immobility, making such visible and noisy movements shocked her enough to check on him. She slowly walked up behind him, and whereas he would normally notice anyone's approach instantly, he didn't even notice her when she moved around his side to stare at his face. Kamen's skin was bone white and reflective, coated in a thin layer of sweat. His chest rose and fell unevenly as though each breath came with great struggle. Sure enough Kamen had grown paler since they had departed the curry of life shop, but it had never been as bad as it was now. Sakura approached hesitantly, as though she were walking towards a lion with its maw wide open and gently place a hand on her secondary sensei's shoulder, "Kamen-sensei? Are you alright?"

Rather than a response from the dark-haired veteran, said man tumbled from his seat, smacking against the sandy ground and kicking up some of the softer grains into the air. Thanks to his prone position on the ground Sakura could now see just how bad of a state Kamen was in, his breathing was even more ragged than before, his eyes were half lidded as though he were looking through a thick fog and worst of all, the pink haired genin could just about make out a dark splotch of liquid pooling though the dark haired man's shirt, "SENSEI!"

Whether Sakura had meant to call Kakashi or express her worry for Kamen, not even she knew, but it served for both purposes as she dove to her knees, her hands hovering over Kamen's body, unsure of what to do. Kakashi arrived at the scene swiftly followed by Naruto, Sasuke and Shale, the samurai barely giving the fuss a second glance. Kakashi frowned as he gazed down at his newfound friend's state, his mind racing as to what was going on, "Boys, get him in the tent! Sakura go get the first aid kit!"

The orders were barked out without the usual confidence that Kakashi held in his tone, it had been replaced with a deep worry, something which didn't go unnoticed by his students. A hundred and one thoughts rushed through Kakashi's mind as Sasuke and Naruto lugged the wounded soldier to the tent. It wasn't long before they were laying the dark-haired man onto a dark green camp bed that sunk slightly into the ground when he was placed upon it, despite the tarp that served as a floor, "Get his shirt off!"

Kakashi's order was once again swiftly followed as Sasuke and Naruto fiddled with their patient's arm guards. Sakura came bursting into the tent, emergency first aid kit in hand, just as Kamen's shirt was removed, "Shit."

Kakashi's cognisant utterance was not without reason. His eye had laid itself upon Kamen's wound that had not long ago seemed perfectly fine. Instead of the clean bandages that he had been hoping for, he was greeted by a blood and pus covered rags that brought him a marginal degree of disgust, "Alright, you two can leave now, Sakura and I will take it from here…"

Both Sasuke and Naruto hesitated for a second before looking at each other and nodding, they wouldn't be of any help here, neither of them had taken the first aid course proposed by the academy, something which they cursed themselves for. The course hadn't been obligatory and didn't align with either of their interests, after all why would you need to know how to heal someone if your objective was to become strong?

As the pair walked out, they were greeted by Lisandra and Shale who apprehensively questioned about Kamen's health only to receive uncertain answers.

Sakura hesitantly removed the bandages that were wrapped around her secondary sensei's stomach, the sickening squelchy sound that invaded the silent tent putting her off slightly. As the veil was finally removed Kakashi and Sakura could finally see the wound in its full glory. The stiches had been done too tight and were almost tearing away at the tender flesh underneath, that and the cut hadn't healed in the slightest, instead it had festered.

Sakura looked up at her sensei for wisdom and was greeted with a worried scowl, "Damn it!"

Sakura was slightly taken aback by her sensei's outburst, although she had little to no clue as to what it was about, "Kakashi-sensei?"

A deep sigh came from the white haired Jonin's masked face, "The wound's infected and I don't know what to do… I don't even know if he'll make it to Ren'ai Fuun like this."

Suddenly the tent flap opened up and in came Lisandra, her dishevelled appearance likely due to the fact that she wasn't used to travelling, one wouldn't be at her age. But despite her state, the elderly woman stood straight as she approached the pair of shinobi before her, "Did I hear right? Has the young man's wound become infected? If that is the case, then I may be of assistance."

_Kamen couldn't quite make out the voices around him, but at the very least he knew he had been moved to a tent and that someone was trying to treat him. All of his sense were dull, his vision was blurry, he felt like his limbs were made of lead and his head was splitting apart with a headache. A face suddenly appeared in his vision as a finger was placed under his eye to force it open, the process was then repeated on his other. Some part of his mind recognised the person as Lisandra but most of it was too busy thinking about how awful he felt. _

Lisandra straightened herself up, her examination of the patient over. The aged woman reflected on just exactly what she was going to do before she suddenly spoke up, "Indeed, the wound's infected but it's slightly worse than that… It's necrotic… First of all we'll need to sedate him, his current state is already unpleasant enough as it is and seeing as we'll need to remove the stitching and cut away the necrotic flesh I think it's best to have him unconscious for that. Girl, go fetch some water and sugar if you can find it!"

Sakura nodded unquestioningly before darting out of the tent, leaving her first aid kit behind which Lisandra swiftly picked up and began rummaging around in, "If you don't mind me asking Lisandra-san, how is it that you know so much about medicine?" "Mh? I'm her Highness' caregiver, I must know everything there is to know about medicine in case her life is ever under threat. The samurai may protect her to the best of their abilities, but as you saw, the best of their abilities sometimes isn't enough."

Kakashi nodded numbly as he saw the old woman retrieve a syringe, a pair of scissors and a pair of steel tweezers. She then, with experienced ease, went about sitting Kamen up, just enough so that he wouldn't choke on his own tongue, yet not so much as to distort the wound. Once that was done the woman pressed lightly on the syringe's plunger, until she was satisfied that there were no air bubbles in the needle. As soon as she jabbed the needle into Kamen's arm, Sakura came bursting back into the tent with a steel gourd and a packet of sugar that Kakashi usually kept for his morning coffee, "Good, mix the sugar into the water then dampen a cloth with it, tilt his head to the side and drip the water into his mouth as slowly as you can… I'd rather not have to make him drink anything while he's unconscious, but he's lost a lot of blood."

Sakura followed the orders as quickly as she could. While she was doing that Lisandra forced open one of Kamen's eyes that had now completely closed. Satisfied that he was now unconscious she went about removing the stitches that Sakura had sown into her secondary sensei. First, Lisandra slipped the medical scissors under the wire, ensuring it was between the two blades of her tool and then she cut it as cleanly as she could. She then outstretched her arm towards Kakashi, scissors in hand, who so far had just been standing there arms crossed, "Soak these in some of the alcohol from the first aid kit then put it back where it belongs."

Kakashi obediently did as he was told but that didn't mean he took his eyes off of Lisandra's movements. At this point Sakura started to drip her sugary water mix into Kamen's mouth as she was instructed, staying out of Lisandra's way as best she could. Lisandra gently grasped the tweezers in her hand, pinched the wire that was stitched into Kamen's skin and gently begun to tug it out, "Is he going to be alright? Will he be able to travel?"

The elderly woman hesitated for long enough that Kakashi thought he wasn't going to get an answer and that she was just going to continue removing the stitches. However, to his mild surprise the answer came without an ounce of uncertainty, "Kamen-san certainly has a sturdy constitution to have lasted this long even. So, I don't doubt that as soon as I'm done, he'll be fit to travel, as long as he doesn't over do it."

Lisandra pulled the last stitch from its place before passing the tweezers and the wire over to Kakashi, "Pass me the scalpel and be prepared to hand me back the tweezers."

Kakashi nodded obediently, swiftly doing as he was told. As soon as he placed the scalpel into Lisandra's hands, he wanted to look away. Sure, he was a hardened Jonin and had seen his fair share of grotesque wounds on the battlefield, but in a clinical situation and on someone he considered a friend it was a lot harder to look at. Lisandra gently drove the tip of the blade into the putrid flesh, softly drawing it around the wound as though she were painting a picture, "First pass me something I can put the necrotic flesh in, then find me a needle and thread. Wire should only be used if you don't have anything else on hand."

The white-haired scarecrow was beginning to feel like a goffer, but he knew full well he was doing so in order to help his suffering friend. Friend. Kakashi had begun to think of Kamen as a friend almost as if it were habit and yet he hadn't known the man for that long… It was strange how quickly it had happened, he couldn't help but keep noticing it because he wasn't the kind who made friends easily, "Tweezers."

The copy nin's thoughts were disturbed as he felt the weight of the plastic bag he was holding suddenly increase, he looked down and almost gagged at the sight of the putrid flesh Lisandra had cut away from the wound. The smell that reached his sensitive nose was almost enough to send him over the edge, but he held himself together in the end.

The elderly medic passed Kakashi the scalpel and tweezers in exchange for the needle and thread. As soon as the exchange was done Lisandra set about stitching Kamen back together, the speed at which she accomplished the feat was in and of itself proof of how experienced the old woman was. It was no wonder 'Ozymandias the king of all kings' had assigned her as Shale's caregiver, "Pass me some of that antibiotic cream, along with one of the pack of dressings and one of the bandages."

Sakura almost cursed herself under her breath… In the heat of the moment she had forgotten to apply not only the antibiotic cream but also the dressing... Was it her fault the wound got infected? Kamen must have been in a lot of discomfort ever since they had left the curry of life shop, why hadn't he said anything? Perhaps he hadn't wanted to make her feel bad? Either way she felt terrible now. As if sensing his students thoughts, Kakashi parted his lips to question Lisandra, "Why didn't you help us while we were at the curry of life shop?"

The elderly woman almost seemed offended at the question, "I was much too busy looking after her highness and her samurai, you surely don't expect me to treat people that I haven't been ordered to by her highness for no reason?"

Kakashi felt slightly frustrated at the answer but didn't feel like insisting over something that had already happened, it wouldn't do anyone any good. Instead he settled for observing Lisandra as she carefully applied the ointment, the dressing and then wrapped the wound in a fresh bandage, "The dressing will have to be changed everyday until the wound heals properly, the bandage doesn't have to be changed as long as it stays clean, as soon as it is dirtied, change it, make sure you don't let any sand get into the wound or it'll get infected again… Oh and make sure he drinks plenty and eats plenty when he wakes up… Young lady, for now what you've done should suffice."

And with that Shale's caregiver left without a moment's notice, surely impatient to be by her highness' side. The white-haired veteran let slip a long sigh of relief as he passed his single eye over Kamen's fully prone figure. Sakura bowed slightly towards her sensei before exiting the tent to reassure her two teammates that Kamen was going to be fine. Kakashi soon followed behind and was rather glad to see that even Sasuke was worried about their secondary sensei, it was a pleasant sight, "Mou, I hope you would all show as much worry for me if I ever end up wounded in battle! But that's isn't really important right now, instead let's talk about rotation schedule. Because Kamen is in such a state, there's not only going to have to be a night guard but also a Kamen guard to make sure nothing happens to him!"

The sadistic cheeriness in Kakashi's voice elicited a groan from his students, which only fed the barely concealed smile that was beneath his mask.

In the end the rotation was decided rather quickly, with Naruto taking the first 'Kamen watch' and Sasuke taking the first perimeter watch.

It wasn't long before Kamen woke up, his blurry vision coming into focus slightly as he took in his surroundings. Sat on one of the shinobi's foldable stools right next to Kamen's bed was one Sasuke Uchiha, his arms crossed, and his weary eyes half lidded. The dark-haired time traveller noticed Sasuke's tired eyes glance towards him and then go back to looking at the tent's wall, something he probably did at regular intervals. The last loyal Uchiha seemed to then freeze as though he wasn't certain of what he had just seen before he shot to his feet, eyes wide and rapidly turning back to Kamen's prone figure, "You're awake."

Kamen chuckled slightly at the response that his awakening had triggered in the young genin. The child was stood above the young man's prone figure, his hands hovering as though he wanted to do something to help but had no idea as to what he could do, "Don't worry Sasuke, I'm fine… I feel much better…"

Sasuke's black eyes seemed to move of their own volition, unable to stay locked with Kamen's sapphire blue, "Hn… You're lucky Lisandra-san was around… None of us knew what to do about your wound."

A sharp breath escaped from the ex-blonde's lips as he attempted to shimmy himself up onto his pillow so as to not be completely lying down. Before he even realised it, a firm grip was placed in the centre of his back, lifting him up slightly. Sasuke couldn't look Kamen in the eyes as he helped him, everything about looking after someone was not in the Uchiha's nature. As soon as the young genin's patient was comfortable, he shuffled back to his seat and plopped down on it, "I suppose I'll have to thank her when I get the chance then…"

There was a momentary silence between the pair, not an awkward one, but rather a silence of relief as though they had just defeated a great foe. Neither Kamen nor Sasuke dared disturb the comfortable silence that had settled between them and yet the war veteran decided it was best he did, "What do you want to do with your life Sasuke?"

The tent, which was already rather bitter due to the freezing nights of the desert, dropped a few degrees at the question. Kamen knew it was a strange time to ask the question, but that was precisely why he had asked it, it served to take Sasuke off guard. Then again Kamen was also taking the opportunity to ask him because it was rare a chance to get the young Uchiha on his own. The silence lasted for a long time, Kamen almost started to doubt that the young genin had even heard his question, that was until the answer came, "In truth? I don't know, Kamen-san… I used to… I used to be certain that I would dedicate my entire life to getting revenge for my clan and as soon as that was done, I would rebuild it from the ground up… And yet, ever since joining team seven and meeting you I've wavered… Pathetic… My brother was right… I'm weak and pathetic…"

Sasuke's face in that instant reminded Kamen of the very face he had seen on the uchiha's older self, not long after he had finally succeeded in killing his brother… Turmoil of the highest degree, inner conflict that refused to settle… The Uchiha's dark eyes were shadowed as they gazed pointlessly at the floor, sometimes following the trail of sand as it gently travelled across the tarp flooring. A deep sigh escaped from Kamen's lips, drawing Sasuke's attention towards him, "I knew someone just like you once… The third shinobi war left many dead and many more thirsting for vengeance… This someone… He was my best friend… More than that he was like a brother to me… He lost his entire family to a single enemy shinobi in the early years of the war… So, what did he do? He dedicated his entire life, his whole being, to becoming an avenging spirit of death… He didn't care about anything or anyone except the vengeance that he thirsted for…"

The painful memories of Sasuke Uchiha came flooding back to Kamen. He hated those days, when his greatest friend hadn't even seemed human, the days when they went toe to toe and neither came out on top. From the hospital roof and valley of the end to the battlefield… Relief had been what Kamen had first felt when Sasuke had joined the allied shinobi nations in their fight against Madara… Later however, Kamen realised just how much Itachi's death at his own hands had scarred the last loyal Uchiha… The Sasuke of the here and now gazed at Kamen's eyes, seeing that he was lost in his memories he was hesitant to disturb him, but he did so either way, "What happened to him?"

A twinge of pain tugged at Kamen's heart, one that dance across his soul like a finger playing the harp, "He died… Just like we all will someday… He got his revenge, hollow as it was… After he had killed the one he hated so much he became just as hollow as his revenge, what is an avenging wraith once its vengeance has been dealt? A ghost, doomed to wander the earth aimlessly until it fades away. I think the worst thing about the whole mess was that he ended up going against everything he stood for… He didn't just betray his friends, he also betrayed himself and lost everything in the process…"

True enough, Sasuke ended up fighting alongside him again, but he was never the same as he had been. His motivations were never obvious, but Kamen had always assumed he did what he did as some sort of atonement… Not that they talked enough about it for him to ever be sure, "I couldn't do that… Not ever… To betray ones own beliefs in the pursuit of vengeance and hatred… I hate my brother and I will kill him for the sake of my clan… But I don't think I could ever go that far…"

Kamen chuckled slightly despite the pain it caused him, both physical and mental. The time traveller haphazardly plopped a hand down on top of the young Uchiha's head. The irony of what Sasuke was saying didn't go over the war veteran's head and yet he truly believed those words which the child was saying to him. Perhaps it was because he hadn't yet been poisoned by Orochimaru's influence, or perhaps it had something to do with Kamen's arrival… Either way Kamen realised that the child before him was that very same one that would dive in front of certain death in order to protect his friends and allies, just as he had done on the Great Naruto Bridge…

The young Uchiha usually avoided physical contact like the plague, and yet the warmth of the large, calloused hand that rested atop his head reminded him of his father and his brother, as they had been before his whole world had been turned on its head… Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment, the fatigue of the day catching up to him all at once, the calming movement of Kamen ruffing his hair setting his soul at ease.

The heart-warming moment between the pair was suddenly interrupted as the tent flap was pushed open and a mess of bright pink hair came poking in, "Ah… Sasuke-kun, Kamen-sensei… It's time we switch…"

Kamen gently removed his hand from Sasuke's head as he smiled underneath his mask, letting the dark haired genin stand and swiftly leave the tent, slightly embarrassed at having been caught in such a position by his teammate.

Sakura looked out towards where her teammate had just dashed off with curious eyes but chose to ignore the last loyal Uchiha's peculiar behaviour, instead awkwardly turning towards Kamen. Suddenly the pink haired genin descended into a deep bow, one that was far beyond the usual inclination used for a greeting or as a form of respect, "I'm so sorry Kamen-sensei! I didn't tend to your wound properly, which meant it got infected! If it wasn't for Lisandra-san… I… I don't know what would have happened!"

A humorous thought ran through Kamen's head_, 'Perhaps I should get wounded more often'_, of course the idea was swiftly dismissed, "Mou, calm down Sakura… You did the best you could with the knowledge and experience you had. I would be a fool to ask anymore than that. I'm alive and well, which mean you did a good enough job, okay?"

The dark-haired shinobi's words seemed to put the pink haired genin slightly at ease, but as she fumbled her way towards her seat, it was clear what he had already said would not be enough to fully reassure the poor girl that she had done nothing wrong. She was at a rather difficult time in her life. In his time, Sakura had truly started to define herself as something more than just team seven's tag along during the chunin exams. More than that she had hardened her resolve at the time. But until the chunin exams came to pass she would still be the uncertain child she had always been. The young Kunoichi stared at the ground just as Sasuke had minutes before, except this time, Kamen could clearly see the tears that were brimming in the corner of her eyes. Kamen reached forwards, his hand hovering over Sakura's head, before moving slightly to rest upon the young child's shoulder, there had already been enough head pats and hair ruffles of late, "Look at me Sakura. Do you think so little of me as to believe that I would hate you because you made a mistake? Has anything I've ever done or said suggested that I might? If so then I'm wholeheartedly sorry, because I could never be angry at any of my precious students." _'Kami, I sound like Kakashi…'_

At last Kamen's words seemed to get through to the girl as tears came flowing out of her eyes and she lunged at her sensei's neck, wrapping her arms around it as she cried her eyes out. All the war veteran could do was comfort the child by rubbing his arm that wasn't pinned by her body, up and down her spine in a soothing manner. Kamen let the hysterical child release all her pent-up emotions as he tried his best to sooth her. This was what she was, what Naruto and Sasuke were… Children. Not soldiers, not genin, not shinobi or kunoichi. A part of Kamen cursed the world he lived in, that such tender beings had to live as they did.

It wasn't long before the young girl seemed to calm down and went back to her seat, a slight blush to her cheeks and a red tinge to the corner of her eyes. Kamen simply gave the embarrassed child a tender smile under his mask, one that Sakura was certain would have been heart-warming to see, "Ne, sensei… Why do you wear a mask?"

A slight sigh escaped from Kamen's lips, not one of annoyance but one of sadness, "Why does anyone wear a mask? Because I'm ashamed of what's underneath…"

The pink haired child nodded slightly despite not really understanding what her secondary sensei meant, "Is that why Kakashi-sensei wears one as well?"

The dark-haired veteran hesitated for a second, unsure of how to answer before he finally came up with an appropriate response, "I can't be sure but… I think so, yes… Maybe he didn't start wearing it because of that, but… Overtime I think that's what it became for him."

Sakura looked down at the floor, dragging her hand over her eyes in an attempt to wipe away what was left of her tears. A pensive look took over her face as she looked back up into her sensei's sapphire eyes, "Then… Why are you ashamed of your face sensei?"

Kamen froze as he registered the question… Why was he ashamed of his face? He knew full well why, just as _he _knew full well, the other him… Naruto… It wasn't just a name, not to Kamen, it was a promise. A promise to stand tall and fight for what was right no matter what… A promise to break the cycle of hatred… A promise to never give up, just like the Naruto in Jiraya's book, 'The Tale Of The Utterly Gutsy Shinobi'. That had been where his name came from… And yet Kamen broke that promise. He betrayed his very name. He had given into hatred and then he had given up. That was why he was ashamed… Ashamed of his name, Ashamed of his face… Ashamed of the fact that he was alive when so many others weren't… But he couldn't exactly say that to Sakura, now could he, "I did many things during the war… All of which I regret… I can't really say much more than that…"

A nod of acknowledgement was all that Kamen received from his pink haired student before a comfortable silence settle over the tent. The silence lasted for a long time until it was disturbed by slightly heavy but rhythmic breaths. Sakura looked over at her sensei's face and saw that he had slipped into a comfortable slumber and although she had no way of knowing, it was the kind of peaceful slumber he had only ever attained in her presence, one devoid of nightmares, of bloodshed and torment.

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Here is Naruto and Tsunade's "**chakra radiation theory**", non-simplified and in full for those that are interested:

"The theory works on the idea that yin and yang, which make up chakra are simply two different types of moving subatomic particles, or radiations which travel on separate wavelengths and that shinobi act as, in rare cases, a receiver and in most cases a transmitter for these 'chakra waves' which combines them into the chakra that we know and which can manipulate the resulting energy at will. The resulting combination of the separate radiations depends largely on one's DNA and mental characteristics. This would explain why chakra development and training for young shinobi only truly starts when they have reached a certain age at which point, they already have predefined characteristics that will influence their later lives. This would also account for the seemingly random biases that people can have for different kinds of ninjutsu, it would also account for elemental affinities. Elemental affinities could exist due to the nature of the separate yin and yang radiations, certain people are attuned to specific wavelengths more than others, those wavelengths corresponding to natural elements. This means that in theory, with enough knowledge of chakra and its functioning along with a corresponding level of control of one's chakra, one could alter their wavelength at will and therefore be able to wield any element as though they had an affinity for it."

**_Fun fact of the day:_ **I based Kamen's "Secret Sword art: Hitodama" on Japanese folklore. Hitodama in Japanese literally means "human soul" and are represented in Japanese folklore as small balls of fire that float around in the middle of the night, which are supposedly souls of the dead that have separated from their bodies. I found it rather poetic as the idea is that the tip of Kamen's sword when using the jutsu appears as just a small red dot floating around from enemy to enemy as he parts their bodies from their souls.

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**_Anyways, review answer time!_**

SteadFastWhiplash: Ah good question, though I might not have made it obvious, in this fanfiction there is no Kaguya Otsutsuki, or rather there isn't in Naruto's time. I found the Idea of the Bunny Goddess being the final villain a little half-hearted and took away the credit that was due for Madara as a villain, seeing as he was in the end just another puppet. It also now feels like Kaguya was added as the final villain just to give an excuse to create Boruto, but that's just my opinion. Either way it means that without Kaguya there was no deus ex machina intervention needed from Hagoromo Otsutsuki and neither Sasuke nor Naruto received a part of his chakra, hence no Six paths sage mode for Naruto and no all-powerful rinnegan for Sasuke.

Lilgarcia999999: Six nines, right? Can't help but think those two numbers were associated on purpose, then again maybe I've got a perverted mind. Anyways, glad you love what I'm churning out! Not so glad about the whole ripping out your heart thing, I ain't no Kano! But either way hope you enjoyed this chapter too and continue to do so!

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I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it was a little bit more focused on the characters than usual but I felt it was the right time to fit this in, anyways good luck with your lives and don't forget to ask any questions you have with a review! Or you know if you just want to say whatever you want!


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